


Playing With Fire

by HollowKingCero



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 47,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21714649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollowKingCero/pseuds/HollowKingCero
Summary: Danny doesn't experience the accident that turned him into a hero but Ember comes to town. What will happen when these two meet for the first time? Tragedy or love at first sight?Warning: This story may be a little dark.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

Inside Fenton Works down in the lab around 7:40 AM, Danny frowned at his ghost hunting/researching parents. His sister Jazz also was not happy to be down there either and she expressed so with folded arms plus a mild scowl.

"Mom, Dad," scowled Jazz with folded arms. "Why are we here? School is about to start in 20 minutes. I don't want to be late and mess up my perfect attendance record."

"Neither do I," agreed Danny. "The last thing I want to do is give Mr. Lancer another reason to put me in detention."

"You wont be kids," responded Jack.

"Because we're just going to give you these," said Maddie as her and her husband handed their children a set of wireless earphones.

Danny and Jazz stared at them.

"Earphones..." repeated Danny not understanding why his parents bothered keeping him from school because of the said item in question.

"I already have a pair in my room so I don't need these," stated Jazz.

"They're not just earphones. They're Fenton Phones." explained their father though it didn't help explain anything at all.

"So they're just earphones with our last name in the title?" questioned Danny still not interested in the tech.

"Not just that sweety but they filter out spectral noise," explained Maddie and yet Danny and Jazz couldn't care less by this point.

"You two can go now," said Jack. "But remember to keep those on at all times when you're at school and wherever else you go."

"Have a nice day," smiled Maddie as her children walked out of the lab and headed for school.

Sometime later...

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were walking the halls of Casper High. The techno geek of the group was playing music really loudly on his PDA.

"Uh... Tucker? What the heck are you listening to?" asked Danny.

"You mean you don't know?!" exclaimed Tucker. "Its Ember Mclain dude!"

"Who?"

"She's this hot knew rock star," said Sam. "I'm surprised you haven't heard her on the radio by now."

"Ok... but why are you two dressed in those colors though?"

"Because these are her colors," smiled Tucker proudly puffing out his chest. "We're Embernatics."

"Embernatics?"

"Mix between Ember and Fanatic," explained Sam.

"So why not Fambers?"

Sam and Tucker shrugged before saying together, "It sounds better."

Right after that, the goth girl caught sight of something Danny had on his ears.

"What's the deal with those earphones you're wearing?"

The dark haired boy touched one earphone with an index finger.

"Oh these? My parents gave them to me this morning. They're supposed to filter out ghost noise or whatever."

"I think they're pretty cool. I probably could pass them off as techno goth earrings."

"Want mine?"

"You sure you don't want them?"

"The only reason I still have them is because they're wireless. Other than that I would have tossed them in the trash by now."

"Ok. I'll take them off your hands."

Danny pulled the Fenton Phones off and handed them to his friend. Then Sam put them on. As soon as they were off Danny, he focused on the music Tucker was playing.

"(Now that I think about it, she does sound pretty good.)"

"Huh?" blinked Sam before looking down at her attire. "(Why am I wearing this garbage?)"

Sometime later in class...

Danny's bald out of shape teacher Mr. Lancer smiled as he stood in front of the chalkboard.

"As you know, the Northwestern 9 Standardize Test is two weeks away. And because my bonus is proportional to what your overall average score is, I'm going to give you lots and lots and lots of homework. And not only that but lots and lots and lots of quizzes until that time comes."

The students groaned.

"Now now. Don't be upset. At least not now anyway. What you really should be worried about is making sure you get good grades so I can get a hefty bonus."

And that's when the out of shape teacher became serious before glaring at each student.

"Because if you don't score well enough, I'm going to give you more projects, more homework, and more assignments for the rest of the year. So much so that you wont have time to go out on weekends or spend time at your favorite hangout spots like the mall, the park, or the Nasty Burger."

The entire glass gulped. Seeing that his message had sunk in, the teacher went back to smiling.

"I expect all of you to make me proud by working hard and studying."

Then in the next second, loud music could be heard playing, which shook the classroom.

"What in Dumbledore's beard is that noise!?"

"Its coming from outside!" answered Tucker at one of the classroom windows.

Then all of a sudden, the students filled to the classroom windows and saw a mobile stage pull up with giant speakers on top. Then a puff of purple smoke erupted followed by a female guitarist and some other musicians.

"Holy cow!? Its Ember Mclain!"

"Did you just say Ember Mclain?!" questioned a wide-eyed Danny.

"Yeah! Ooooooh!" sang a female's voice from outside.

Then without hesitation, all the students ran to the classroom doors and everyone in the entire school made their way outside to see the pop star.

"Hello Casper High!" shouted Ember to her teenage audience. "Tell me who you love!"

The students chanted, "EMBER! EMBER! EMBER!"

Then Ember's ponytail hair flared wildly as if it was made of fire and somehow the students chanting was like gasoline that fueled it.

"That's it baby! Say my name! Are you ready for a little youth revolution?!"

The techno geek Tucker Foley came running outside and shouting, "We love you Ember!"

"That's because I fill a void in your empty lives," said Ember.

"Seriously?" scoffed Sam with folded arms.

"Whoa... She's perfect." commented Danny

Sam shifted her focus to Danny who stared dreamily at the pop icon and asked, "What did you say Danny?"

The Fenton boy absentmindedly ignored his friend before making his way through the crowd of students until he was directly in front of the stage.

"Oh Ember~! You will remember~!" sang Ember. "Ember~! You will remain. Ember~! So warm and TENDER~!. YOU WILL REMEMBER MY NAME!"

And then the pop star looked down into the crowd and saw Danny smiling warmly while staring at her.

"(He's cute.)"

Then Ember crouched down and pointed a finger at Danny. Then she used that finger to signal for him to come closer. Danny pointed to himself and mouthed "Me?" Ember nodded with a flirty smile. The dark haired teen did as directed by lifting himself a bit onstage. Ember then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before shoving him off. Sam saw what happened and her eye twitched. Fortunately for her, Mr. Lancer decided that it was time to take action by speaking into a megaphone.

"Attention freakishly dressed teen idol! I order you to cease and desist!"

Ember frowned before sending a glare his way.

"Desist this grandpa!"

The pop princess strummed her guitar cords and a purple spiral of spooky energy washed over the crowd. When the students felt its influence their eyes glowed red before they set their sights on the out of shape teacher. Lancer sweatdropped.

"Now now students... No need to be irrational... I'm sure we can..."

"Get him!" ordered Ember pointing.

Lancer then turned and bolted out of there as a herd of students gave chase. However, some stuck around for the rest of her performance.

"Wait a minute... Ember's a ghost?!" blinked an astonished Sam.

"If you want to see more of me, stop by Amity Cube Garden tonight!" declared Ember. "I'm gonna do a live televised concert for the entire world to see! Be there!"

The pop princess looked down at Danny who was still staring dreamily at her while holding his cheek. She smiled coyly at him and said, "You know you want to."

And in the next moment, the stage vanished from sight along with Ember and her crew. The group of teens came to their senses. Including the ones who had chased Mr. Lancer (who was currently keeping out of reach at the top of a flag pole). All except for Danny who felt as if he was kissed by an angel and couldn't believe his luck.


	2. Chapter 2

Later after school at the Nasty Burger...

"Did you get the tickets?" asked Tucker biting into his double cheeseburger.

"Yep," answered Danny pulling out two tickets and revealing them to his friend. The techno geek wiped his hands clean with a napkin before taking one.

"Thanks dude."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

"Is something the matter with you two?" glared Sam while disappointed at them.

Danny and Tucker exchanged confused looks with each other before answering in unison, "Uh... no. Why?"

"Do I seriously need to spell it out to you guys... again?"

"Spell what out?"

Sam facepalmed and slid her hand down off of her face with an exasperated sigh.

"Ember. Is. A. Ghost. G-H-O-S-T. You know those spooky things that go around town scaring the crap out of everybody."

"So?" responded Tucker not caring at all.

"What's your point?" Danny said not understanding his friend.

"Your parents said that ghosts are malevolent ecto based spirits," explained the Manson teen. "We need to do something about her before she goes on a killing spree."

"I think you've been reading one too many horror books Sam."

"And besides, she hasn't done anything or hurt anybody."

"Yes she did! She hypnotized a group of students into attacking Mr. Lancer!"

"What? I don't remember that."

"Are you sure you're not just jealous or something?"

"What is the matter with you two?!" fumed Sam.

"Nothing," answered Tucker nonchalantly.

"I think you're the one with the problem," deflected Danny.

The goth girl stood up with a growl.

"Fine! If you're not gonna do something about her then I will!"

Then she stormed away in anger.

When she was out of the restaurant Tucker pointed with a thumb towards the door.

"That time of the month?"

"The heck if I know. She's angry and miserable all the time. Its kind of annoying."

Minutes later at the Fenton Residence inside of the lab...

"Samantha hi!" greeted Maddie in a chipper mood.

"How can we help you Sammy?" asked Jack with a smile.

"Mister and misses Fenton," frowned Sam. "I think there's some weird stuff going on that you two should know about."

"What weird stuff?" asked the Fenton wife.

"Ghost stuff."

Jack and Maddie became serious.

"Have you seen one?" questioned the man in orange.

"Yeah. At least I think so."

"Where?"

"At our school earlier."

The two ghost hunters exchanged looks with each other before shifting back to Sam.

"How sure are you that you saw a ghost?" asked the woman in the blue jumpsuit.

"Well, I saw the ghost hypnotize a bunch of students and order them to attack a teacher."

The parents gasped.

"Is the ghost still there?!" sweatdropped Maddie.

Sam shook her head.

"No, but I know where its going to be later."

Jack raised a fist and clenched it tight.

"Tell us everything and we'll handle it."

Sam nodded and expounded what she knew.

Later that night at Amity Cube Garden...

"Oh Ember~! You will remember~!" sang Ember on the stage in front of screaming fans. "Ember~! One thing remains! Oh Ember~! So warm and tender~! You will remember my name!"

"YOU ROCK EMBER!" hollered every teen in the building.

The pop princesses' hair flared wildly. Sam, Maddie and Jack saw it from the crowd they were navigating through.

"See?" pointed Sam.

"She's a ghost alright," confirmed Jack staring at Ember who continued to bring life to the building.

"No human can have flaming hair like that," added Maddie before focusing on the device she held. "And also, our scanner is picking up high concentrations of ecto energy coming from the stage where its performing."

Sam glanced down at the device in Maddie's hands and the reading said _Over_ _9000_ before it malfunctioned. Then the goth girl suggested, "I think you two should try to stop Ember before she gets too powerful. Just saying."

"Well what are we waiting for?!" said Jack cocking his weapon. "Let's tear that ghost apart molecule by molecule!"

The Fenton in the orange jumpsuit ushered towards the stage. Then the Fenton in the blue jumpsuit shouted while following behind.

"No Jack! We have to dissect and study it first!"

Ember smiled fiendishly as she felt the crowd giving her endless supplies of energy. Then she raised a fist high.

"Say my name like you mean it Amity Park!"

"EMBER! EMBER! EMBER!" chanted the Embernatics.

The pop princesses' hair flared up higher than before while she basked in the adoration.

"Eat Fenton Bazooka ghost!" declared Jack and Maddie in unison.

The ghost girl was blasted by the pair in jumpsuits and crashed into the huge display monitor behind her.

The crowd gasped in shock.

"Mom and dad?! exclaimed Danny from nearby a stunned Tucker.

The pop princess reached a hand out of the hole before she pulled her upper body out of it. Her face had red bruises and scars. Not only that but her makeup was ruined. Ember saw who was responsible for her recent predicament and she glared fiercely.

"(They're dead...!)"

Ember flew out and hovered in the air as she readied her guitar. But Maddie and Jack wasn't going to wait around so they fired bazooka blasts at her. Ember dodged them but managed to send a ghostly fist beam their way. The hunters were struck and fell offstage with a groan. Ember straightened her hair before landing to approach the microphone stand. As soon as she was about to sing, it was pulled away and she blinked in confusion. Then she looked to the side and saw Sam smirking while twirling the microphone around.

"You know I don't think singing is your thing. Try mime."

Ember glared at her and walked forward. As soon as she was halfway, Danny jumped onstage and snatched the mike from his friend which surprised both girls.

"Danny!?" exclaimed Sam. "What are you doing?!"

"I should be asking you the same thing," glared Danny before turning and walking over to Ember. As he handed back the microphone with an encouraging smile, "Keep doing what you're doing."

The pop princess smiled and pecked him on the cheek.

"Thanks babypop."

Danny nearly melted as Ember turned to face the crowd again.

"Oh Ember~! You will remember~!"

Danny shifted his gaze to the goth girl before closing the distance and grabbing her by the arm followed by pulling her away.

"Cut it out Danny!" struggled Sam trying to get free. "We have to stop Ember!"

"The only person who needs to be stopped is you!"

The goth girl winced as his grip tightened around her arm.

"(Sorry to do this to you Danny, but desperate times calls for desperate measures.)"

In the next second, Sam moved to face the boy and her foot went to a place where she knew it would do the most damage.

"OOF!" choked Danny dropping like a brick while clutching his family jewels.

While he was down, Sam jumped offstage and ran to the downed Fentons before picking up one of their bazookas and a Fenton Thermos attached to Maddie's gear belt. After climbing back up, she aimed at the distracted Ember who was busy singing.

"So warm and tender~! You will remember... AAAAAGH!"

The pop princess was struck on the side of her head and bounced across the stage. When she managed to recover from her injuries she stood up.

"I've just about had it with you dipsticks!"

Sam motioned to use the Fenton Thermos, but Ember was faster on the draw. She extended her arms out in front of her and an upside down tornado trapped the goth girl. The Fenton gear she had were sucked off of her person and cast away. Sam sweatdropped seeing Ember adjust the setting on her guitar to a fire emblem as she approached.

"This time, I'm gonna incinerate you until there's nothing left but a pile of ashes!"

The pop princess took aim at her captive.

"Say goodbye!"

Before she had a chance to attack Sam, a strong pull suddenly yanked at her being.

"What the...!? What the heck is going on?!"

She tried to fight it but she couldn't. The flame haired ghost fell and was being dragged off. Sam looked and saw Maddie holding the Fenton Thermos. Then Ember looked back and saw the woman.

"No! No! NOOOOOOOO!"

As soon as Ember was sucked into the container, Maddie twisted the lid on it. Then everyone in the building blinked as Ember's musical influence had worn off.

"Huh?" uttered a confused Jazz.

"Like what's going on?" questioned Star.

"Ember rocks?" said Tucker before shaking his head. "No that can't be it..."

Sam came walking over to Danny and helped him stand up.

"Uh... What am I doing here?" asked the Fenton teen looking around. As he tried to take a step, he felt a throbbing pain coming from his private area which made him grimace. "And why does it feel like I've been kicked between the legs by a heavy boot?"

The goth girl looked away feeling embarrassed.

"Um... well for starters, Ember had you and everyone else hypnotized."

"She did?" blinked Danny a little surprised.

"Yep."

"Oh... and where is she?"

"Captured. Thanks to your parents."

"And the pain in my groin area?"

"Um..."

Luckily for Sam, Jack and Maddie came walking over.

"You okay son?" asked Jack.

"That evil ghost didn't hurt you did it?" questioned Maddie.

"I am now and no she didn't," answered Danny smiling in their direction. "Thanks to you guys."

"Hey," interrupted Sam placing hands on her hips. "I helped too you know."

Danny looked at his friend.

"You did?"

"She sure did son," confirmed Jack placing a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"If it wasn't for Samantha telling us about what was happening and distracting the ghost, we probably wouldn't have been able to capture it." added Maddie.

A little impressed by his friends actions, Danny said, "Wow. Thanks Sam."

The goth girl smiled.

"You're welcome."

"Hm? Is that lipstick on your cheek sweety?" asked Maddie now focusing on her son's face.

"Lipstick?" repeated the teen boy before tracing a finger along his cheek and looking at it afterward. There was purple on the tip. "Huh? Where did that come from?"

"Um... It doesn't really matter," said the goth girl before changing the subject. "What we should do is tell everybody what happened before they think they're going crazy."

The Fentons nodded and the four went about doing as Sam suggested.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that night...

"Stop! Please dont... AGH!" cried Ember while strapped down onto a metal table as a scalpel dug into the pale skin of her midsection. Too bad for her that Maddie didn't believe that ghosts could feel actual pain.

"Jack," called Maddie. "Administer the sleeping gas."

"On it," said Jack.

The man in orange placed the oxygen mask over the ghost girl's face. She tried to fight it off but with little to no power in her reserves she couldn't. And so, the gas slowly took hold.

"No... I'm getting... ti... erd..." muttered the pop princess before her eyes fluttered shut and darkness came.

Several days after that while the pop princess was strapped down to the same table...

"I swear I'm gonna rip you apart!" threatened Ember struggling against her anti-ghost restraints. "You and your fat husband! And I'm gonna... Ugh...!"

The pop princess felt a syringe stick into the side of her neck as Maddie injected her with something.

"(Now all I have to do is wait and see how the ghost reacts.)" thought the female researcher.

A week later, the once flame haired ghost had patches of hair on her head and her skin was of a sickly greenish complexion.

"I'm gonna rip you a new... AGH!" grimaced Ember feeling focused heat piercing into her arm. Maddie was currently testing out the efficiency of the anti-ghost laser she developed.

The Fenton Matriarch used a pen to check something off on the clipboard she was holding.

"Fenton Laser check..."

Then the mother hit an overhead switch shutting off the laser.

Ember mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

But then Maddie said, "Now to test the Fenton Peeler."

A look of horror crossed the pop princess' face.

Days later, Jack held a beaker containing red liquid.

"Jack, we haven't fully tested that yet," warned Maddie.

"Don't worry about it honey," smiled the oversized man in orange confidently. "It will be fine. Besides, even if it does go wrong we'll at least know what it does right?"

His wife frowned but acknowledged that he had a point.

"Ok. I guess you do have a..."

Without wasting any time, the Fenton husband forced open the half conscious Ember's mouth and poured the strange liquid into her orifice.

"(Ugh... what now...) thought Ember groggily. Nevertheless, she downed the concoction without regard due to being so thirsty and didn't care what it was as long as it quenched her thirst. Right after swallowing the last of it she let out a sigh. The two scientists waited a full minute but nothing happened.

"Nothing," pouted Jack. "And here I thought it would have at least make the ghost swell up like a balloon or something."

"Looks like we're going to have to go back to the drawing board with that formula," said Maddie.

As soon as the two turned and took a few steps towards the exit...

"No, don't go." said Ember after turning her head in their direction. "Please stay here with me. (Huh?)"

The scientists stopped and shifted their attention to the smiling ghost on the table.

"I promise to be on my bestest behavior," beamed the ghost girl fluttering her eyelashes. "I love you two so much. (Why the heck did I say that?!)"

Maddie and Jack exchanged looks for a second before the woman took out a pen and her small notebook as the two approached the table.

"Thank you so much. I don't like being alone. Its so scary and sad. By the way, I think you should stand back a few feet."

"Why?" asked Jack raising a brow.

"Because I'm going to throw up silly and its gonna go aaaaall over the place. Yay vomit!"

In the next moment, Ember cheeks puffed out and like she said, the green upchuck she hurled out went all over the place, including on Jack and Maddie who blinked underneath the vomit that covered them. The pop princess smiled.

"That was a big one. I don't think it will happen again. Oh... I might have spoken too soon."

And she puked again spreading out even more stomach matter. When she was done...

"That took a lot out of me. I think I might not survive another one but at least I have you guys to keep me company in case I dont. Thanks for being here. By the way, did I mention how much I love you two? Because I do! (Why can't I stop?!) Uh-oh its going to happen again in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

Puke city made itself known once again and after the pop princess groaned with a smile.

"Yeah... throwing up... is... the... worst. I'm... not... sure... if... I... can... stooooOOOOO!?"

Then she dry heaved uncontrollably as her body jerked in its restrained position.

"(Help me! It hurts! Can't take much more! Somebody make it stop!)"

Maddie and Jack immediately took action.

On another day...

"Please... I'm sorry..." apologized Ember weakly. Clearly she was defeated in every sense of the word. "I'll do... anything... Just let... me go... I'll be a... good ghost..."

"Jack," called Maddie.

"On it," said Jack readying the sleeping gas.

The pop princess frowned upon seeing the clear mask and pleaded, "I-I'm begging you... No no... no I don't want to... no... no... noooooooooo..."

Her eyes fluttered shut with traces of tears in the corners.

On an unknown day after that, Ember was lying on the floor of her makeshift cell(which was basically a cube shaped ghost shield) groaning in pain while clutching her stomach while curled into a ball. She had tears running out of her eyes.

"(I'll kill them. I'll rip their guts out. I'll get even. Even if it kills me again. I swear they will pay for doing this to me. Mark my words.)"

Right after finishing that thought...

"Hello?" called a male's voice as someone descended into the lab. "Anybody down here?"

Ember heard the person and her eyes came open.

"(That voice... why does it sound familiar?)"

She rolled over and saw a dark haired teen boy walking through the lab.

"This place is a mess," commented the teen. "I hope they don't expect me to clean this up."

"(Its him.)" blinked the pop princess curiously. "(The cute boy from the day of my concert. But what is he doing here?)"

Danny walked over to a desk with lots of papers scattered across the top.

"Mom and dad must have been doing a lot of work down here."

"(So his parents did this to me...)"

The teen boy started walking away. As he did, Ember saw her chance and called out, "Hey."

Danny stopped.

"Did I just hear something?"

"Yeah... me."

The boy looked around and saw the green glow at the far corner of the room right next to a very tall machine.

"(What is that?)" he questioned in his mind before walking over to the corner. As soon as he was close enough, he locked eyes onto the ghost girl and his peepers widened as a result.

"Hey... baby... pop..." greeted Ember weakly from her position on the floor.

"You... you're Ember Mclain... that ghost from little over a month ago."

"(So that's how long I've been here. Felt like three.)"

Danny crouched down in front of the ghost shield to get a better look at her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You... don't know?"

The boy shook his head.

"Oh..." sniffed Ember before saying, "I'm a... lab... rat..."

"WHAT?!"

More tears came out of the pop princesses' eyes and she winced before saying, "Yeah..."

Danny clenched his fists tight and thought, "(I thought they sent her back to the Ghost Zone...!) Would you like to go home?"

She blinked and looked at him with glistening hopeful eyes.

"I can...?"

Danny nodded.

"For real...?"

"Yeah."

More tears came from Ember as hope filled her heart.

"I do and... thank you..."

The boy went over to the shield generator and hit the off switch. Then he went to the ghost portal and hit the open button. The swirling green dimensional rift spiraled as soon as the guard doors slid open. Danny came walking back to her moments later and crouched down to help her up.

"I'm sorry I didn't find out about this sooner," apologized the teen draping her arm across his neck followed by helping walk her to the ghost portal.

As soon as they were a few feet away...

"Danny!?" exclaimed Jack catching the sight of his son alongside the ghost.

"What are you doing?!" gaped Maddie.

Danny turned with the ghost girl to face them. Ember saw the panicked look on his face and sweatdropped. Then suddenly, her survival instincts kicked in and she wrapped her arm tight around his neck before pressing a finger against his temple.

"Do anything... and I'll waste him!" threatened Ember.

"Ugh...!" struggled the teen boy trying to breathe.

Maddie and Jack growled as Ember backed closer to the ghost portal before falling backwards into it with her hostage.


	4. Chapter 4

After leaping backwards into the ghost portal, Ember could feel her power returning gradually as they fell together. Not only that but her injuries healed slowly but surely. Clearly she did not fully appreciate the Ghost Zone until now.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" yelled Danny during their fall.

Before the two could free fall too far into the depths of the spooky dimension, Ember flew upwards with the teen boy in arms.

"Relax babypop," said the ghost girl with her hands locked around his chest. "We're good from here. Check it out."

Danny opened his eyes slowly and saw that they were flying.

"Oh. Cool."

He looked from left to right followed by up and down taking a good look at the place.

"This place is..."

"Spooky?" guessed Ember.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry about it. You'll get used to it."

"I'm not sure I want to."

The pop princess smirked and muttered, "That's the least of your worries."

Danny looked up confused.

"What did you say?"

"I um..." stammered Ember trying to think of something and eventually did. "Said that you don't have to worry. Not as long as you're with me. I got your back."

The teen boy smiled.

Sometime later the two happened upon a group of purple doors floating about in the air.

"What are these doors for?" asked Danny.

"They're homes for ghosts," answered Ember.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Where do you think we crash?"

"Uh... Haunted houses?"

The pop princess laughed.

"Sorry babypop, but its not like in the movies."

And then they made it to one particular door with a star on the front a minute or two later. Ember opened it up with one arm still wrapped around Danny before tossing him inside.

"Ugh..." groaned the dark haired boy sliding across the floor.

After closing the entrance barrier after making her way in, Ember said, "Welcome to my pad."

Danny picked himself up and looked around. He noticed that they were standing in a living room with black furniture, a flat screen TV mounted on the wall, a couple of speakers rigged in the upper corners of the area, some lamps, and a black coffee table in the center of the room. Not only that but there was a wide array of flowers on shelves located on each wall.

"Nice home," complimented Danny. "It really looks nice in here; better than most people's houses even."

"Thanks," smiled Ember proudly. "But you haven't seen anything yet. This is only the first floor. You should check out upstairs. It'll knock your socks off."

The boy looked at her incredulously.

"You have an upstairs too?"

"Yep. C'mon, I'll show you."

She grabbed him by the wrist and flew off to the stairs. They went up for a few seconds until reaching the next floor. When Danny saw it, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. This floor was much larger than last. There was a round bed which could fit at least 10 people positioned in the center. In the very back was what looked like a kitchen area with its own stove, fridge, cabinets, counters, and a couple of barstools. Located on the right side of the area was a music studio. On the opposite side of that was a game room. There was also a bookshelf, trophies, posters, and many other things in the area that was not too far from the bed. The entire floor minus the kitchen was black carpeted. Also, like downstairs, there were plants lined on shelves of each wall.

"So? What do you think?" asked Ember though by the look on his face, she could tell he was impressed.

"Its amazing..." gaped Danny in astonishment.

"I figured you'd like it. This is my room after all."

"I think I'm going to need a minute to process all of this..."

"Take your time."

The boy walked around the place and the pop princess smiled deviously.

"(You're in for a real treat babypop.)"

Meanwhile...

"This isn't good Jack," paced Maddie back and forth in the Fenton Lab. "We have to find a way to get our baby boy back from that she-demon."

"I agree," said Jack getting an idea. "Which is why I think its time we take out our latest project for a test drive."

Maddie stopped pacing.

"But Jack... we don't know if it is safe to use!"

"We wont know unless we give it a try. And besides, Danny is in danger so we don't have a choice."

The Fenton wife thought silently for a few seconds before saying, "You're right. Danny needs our help and we can't afford to waste time."

The woman and her husband went over to a large key coded chest located next to a filing cabinet before entering the passcode. Right after, they pulled out what was inside. It turned out to be a jetpack.

"Its too bad we only have one," frowned Maddie. "Which one of us..."

"You go honey," said Jack determinedly.

"What? Are you sure? Don't you want to..."

Jack hugged his wife.

"As much as I want to Maddie, you and I both know you're the brains of this whole operation. Besides, you're a better shooter and fighter than me. Not to mention you're in better shape."

The man in orange patted his stomach before his wife shed an emotional tear.

"Oh Jack..."

Then the two embraced each other with a loving kiss. When they parted, Maddie strapped on the jetpack and pulled her jumpsuit's hood on.

"I'll try to find him as soon as I can."

Jack nodded. Then Maddie walked over to the Ghost Portal after grabbing a few items and strapping them to her gear belt. Then she activated the jet pack and hopped into the Ghost Portal.

"Uh-oh..." groaned Jack. "I forgot to ask her what to do about dinner if she's late."

Sometime later at Ember's place...

Once Danny was able to check out every part of her lair he commented, "If I had a place like this I would never leave."

While his back was turned, Ember raised a hand and struck him hard with a fierce chop. He collapsed to the floor out cold right after.

"That takes care of that," she muttered before pulling out her cell phone and calling someone. "Oh hey. I think I got something you might be interested in. Stop by my place and I'll fill you in on the rest. See you then."

She hung up after that and looked down at the boy with a smirk.

Almost half an hour later...

"Here he is," said the pop princess looking down at the teen boy on the floor. "Just like I said."

The mechanical ghost with a flaming green mohawk standing next to Ember grinned as he scanned Danny with his eyes.

"I see and I am very interested in this arrangement."

"I figured you might be."

Then her guest shifted his attention to her.

"But if I may inquire, what brought about such an idea out of you? Never before have you expressed this kind of desire."

"Its payback for treating me like a guinea pig for a month."

"That would do it," nodded the mechanical ghost now understanding. "Then I will get started right away. Would you like to see it happen?"

"Would I?" smiled Ember.

The mechanical ghost picked the boy up and slung him over his shoulder. Following that, the two made their way out.

Sometime later...

A bucket of water(or whatever passes for it in the Ghost Zone) splashed across Danny's face and he groaned.

"Ugh..."

Upon waking up, he saw two faces before him. One had a mechanical grin and the other a purple lipstick coated smirk. The former was the first to address him.

"Rise and shine human child."

"What..."

Danny tried to move his arms but he felt something restricting them. He looked up and saw the metal bracelets locked around his wrists which was also joined to a chain that was bolted to the ceiling. Not only that but after glancing down at his feet, he noticed that he had a similar problem with his legs which kept him from moving his feet. Fear had taken hold of the teen from that point on.

"W-what's going on?!"

"You're about to become my next work of art," explained the mechanical ghost chuckling fiendishly.

"A-art?!"

"Got that right babypop," confirmed Ember.

Danny shifted his gaze to the ghost rocker.

"Y-you're behind this?!"

"Yeah."

"W-why? I-I helped y-you."

"And I appreciate that. Without you I wouldn't be able to get my revenge against your parents."

In the next second, Ember's colleague picked up a large machete from the wooden table close by and brandished it in front of Danny's face. Then the teen shook like a leaf filled with dread.

"I-I-I didn't do anything to you!" Danny cried out.

"I know, but you're their son," explained the ghost rocker while imagining a certain scenario playing out in her head. "And when they find out that you're dead they'll be devastated. I can imagine the looks on their faces once they find your body all gift wrapped for them to see! It'll be perfect!"

Danny's eyes went out of focus as he begged, "P-p-please d-d-dont d-d-do th-this..."

Ember closed the distance and placed a hand on his cheek before caressing it.

"Sorry, but I gotta get payback for what they did. No if ands or buts."

Then she leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips.

Her partner in crime took notice and asked, "What are you doing?!"

After she pulled away and wiped the boy's lips clean of her lipstick, the ghost girl said, "Relax Skulker. It was a goodbye present. Not like it means anything to me. Besides, he deserved it."

"How long..." uttered Danny still scared out of his mind despite the kiss he had received.

"How long what?"

"How long have you been planning this?"

"As soon as I found out that you were their son back in the lab."

"My parents were right... you ghosts are malevolent spirits..."

The pop princess shrugged.

"Sometimes. But your parents started it first so blame them for what is about to happen."

"And I thought they were wrong..." said the teen now looking down in regret. "I'm so stupid..."

"You'd best say your prayers because you're in for a world of excruciating pain." warned Skulker as he approached with the machete after Ember backed away. "(Especially after that kiss...)"

Later on around midnight...

Maddie came back to the Fenton Portal and landed. Jack was there waiting and so was Jazz with concerned looks.

"Have you..." started Jack but his wife shook her head cutting him off.

"I searched every nook and cranny I came across, but I saw no trace of Danny or the ghost that took him," frowned Maddie. "I came back to fill up on fuel."

"Do you think he's..." began their daughter on the verge of tears, but couldn't finish the question.

"I don't know sweetheart. But I refuse to give up."

"That goes for me too," said Jack placing an arm around his daughter. "And neither should you Jazzy-pants."

The teenage girl sniffed.

"Ok. I won't either. For Danny's sake."

But then a long wooden box slid into the room from out of the Fenton Portal. The three noticed it right away.

"Hm?" blinked Maddie.

"Where did that come from?" questioned Jack.

Jazz walked over to the box and saw that there was some kind of note attached to it. Right after taking it off she read it aloud.

"It says... Let this be a lesson not to treat ghosts like lab rats you bad word that starts with an 'M' and ends in an 'S'. From Ember Mclain."

The couple in the room felt a pit in their stomach in that moment, but Jazz didn't seem to have the same reaction. She absentmindedly lifted the lid off the box and what she found made her want to crawl in a hole and die. But instead, the sight only spurred Jazz into the throes of a panic attack.

"No... no no no no no... NOOOOOOOOOO!"


	5. Chapter 5

A week later...

Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Jack, Maddie, relatives of the Fentons, and friends of the family were outside watching a coffin being lowered into the ground. Even the billionaire Vlad Masters was there. Though he never got along with Jack, he loved Danny as if he were his own. Danny would call him uncle Vlad whenever they visited his mansion in Wisconsin. This made the billionaire forgot about the unfortunate things that happened in his life. Especially the ecto acne incident. All who had came were either crying or heartbroken. Though Jazz and Maddie could barely stand let alone watch.

"He didn't deserve this...!" weeped Jazz. "He didn't...!"

Tucker and Sam hugged her tight to try to console her or at least comfort themselves.

"I should have told him how I felt..." said Sam. "And now I wont get a chance to find out if he...!"

"He was the best friend a guy could have..." frowned Tucker not crying like the other two but heartbroken all the same.

Maddie had bags under her eyes just like her husband as they held each other tight.

"I don't know how I'm going to be able to live on without our baby boy Jack...!"

"I know honey. I know."

"(Thank you for bringing happiness to my life little badger.)" sulked Vlad.

Then the coffin finally hit the bottom of the hole. Soon after, each person there tossed a rose into it. Following that, dirt filled it to the top. Next it was time to say a few words for the teen who was gone. Everyone had a story about Danny. Some most knew and some they didn't. Though all made them either smile and/or chuckle a bit.

Several months after that on Christmas Day inside of the Ghost Zone...

The ghosts were gathered in the home of Pandora of Acropolis. She had just about everything a normal Christmas Party would have. Ham, presents, eggnog, mistletoe... you name it and it was there. The tall Acropolian said hi and welcomed everyone who came to her door.

"Please enjoy yourselves," said the female ghost host with a smile.

Once she caught sight of a particular ghost in a purple cloak she narrowed her eyes.

"Do my eyes deceive me or is that who I think it is?"

Once the ghost she spotted had closed the distance between himself and Pandora, he said with a smile, "Greetings Pandora."

"Clockwork! I must say I did not expect you to show up on my doorstep. What a wonderful surprise."

"Normally I skip Christmas parties but since I heard it was you that was hosting this year I decided to break the tradition and take some time off."

"I am flattered by your gesture."

But then the tall ghost woman saw someone standing behind Clockwork.

"And who might be this ghost be?"

"Pardon my manners," apologized Clockwork before shifting his body to the side and extending an arm. "Allow me to introduce you to my apprentice. Please introduce yourself my young protégé."

The teenage boy looking ghost with pale blue skin, unnatural white hair, glowing green eyes looked up at Pandora with a friendly smile. He wore a dark black cloak that was similar to Clockworks. He also had on a black body suit underneath it and white boots on his feet.

"Hello miss Pandora," greeted the blue skinned boy bowing slightly. "My name is Danny. Danny Phantom."

"This one certainly has manners," smiled the ghost woman. "Its a pleasure to meet you Danny Phantom. Please make yourself comfortable inside."

The ghost boy nodded before making his way inside and then the Acropolian shifted her attention back to Clockwork.

"So how long has he been under your watch?"

"Officially or unofficially?"

"Oh. So it is one of those cases?"

"Unfortunately."

"And how is the young ghost holding up?"

"He has made some progress. Although, a change of pace and a little interaction will do wonders I assume."

"Assume? But I thought you knew everything?"

The purple cloaked ghost smirked.

"Sometimes I like to surprise myself. It keeps things interesting."

Pandora turned to look inside at the ghost boy who was advancing towards a table of food.

"I see."

With Danny at the food table, he had found himself a paper plate and was stacking it with a variety of foods. But small portions of each. As soon as he was about to reach for a utensil to pick up a slice of ham with, a hand was placed on top of his.

"Huh?"

"Sorry," apologized the female right next to him. "You go first."

With his eyes, Phantom followed from the girl's hand, up her arm, to the head. He noticed that she had green hair which reminded him off a mop in a way. He glanced down briefly and noticed that she wore fishnet stockings in addition to her red and green jean jacket and mini-skirt.

"Its ok," said Danny after meeting her eyes again. "Ladies first."

"A gentleghost," observed the girl with a smile as she in return studied him. "That's sweet. And you're cute."

Danny looked away and scratched the side of his head while blushing.

"Uh... thanks."

The ghost girl grabbed the tongs and picked up a slice of ham for herself before asking, "So are you new around here? I never seen you before."

"You can say that. This is the first party I've ever been to after moving on."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"How long have you been in the Ghost Zone?"

"Dead or alive?"

The girl blinked in confusion.

"Wait, you've been here when you were alive?"

"Yeah, but not more than a day. And to answer your question I've been dead for almost four months."

"Oh... well my name is Kitty," said the girl introducing herself while holding out her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Danny accepted the gesture and shook it.

"I'm Danny Phantom. But you can call me Danny if you want."

"So how many friends do you have Danny?"

"None."

The green haired girl blinked again.

"You're kidding right?"

Danny shook his head and said, "I'm afraid not."

"Well we're gonna have to fix that," stated Kitty before grabbing his wrist and dragging him across the room.

Danny nearly dropped his plate on the way to the destination Kitty was leading him to. They eventually stopped by a Christmas tree that was surrounded by three other ghosts.

"Hey guys. Introduce yourselves to our new friend."

The other ghosts in the area stopped talking to look at Danny. The one with the greasy brown hair and long grey jacket was the first to speak.

"Hey little man. The name's Johnny 13, but you can call me Johnny."

"He's my boyfriend FYI," added Kitty.

"Hi Johnny," nodded Danny but also taking a mental note of what Kitty said.

The next to speak was a ghost who looked like a young kid. He was dressed like a little elf.

"Hey kid. The name's Youngblood."

Danny raised a brow and thought, "(Kid? I'm older than him. At least I think I am.)"

After Youngblood, the red headed woman who wore a red and green business suit with a short skirt and high heels spoke.

"Spectra. Penelope Spectra. Most people call me Penny, although a cutie like you can call me whatever you want. Let's talk later in private."

The woman winked and Danny felt his face heat up and he looked away.

Kitty leaned in close and whispered into his ear, "I wouldn't take her up on that. Trust me. You will not be the same afterwards."

"Hey!" pouted Spectra. "Don't say mean things about me behind my back in front of my face!"

"I would never do that," assured the green haired girl before looking around. "Anyway, where did Em go?"

"Said she had to clear her head or something," shrugged Johnny before eating from the plate he was carrying. "I don't know."

"She'll probably be back in a sec," said Youngblood.

"In the meantime, introduce yourself to us cutie pie," beamed Spectra.

Kitty nudged Danny, who was a little embarrassed by the nickname Penny gave him.

"Go on."

"Oh uh... I'm Danny Phantom," said the white haired boy scratching the side of his head. "But you can call me Danny I guess."

"Tell us about yourself little man," said the greasy haired ghost.

As he dug into the food that he was holding, Danny replied, "There's not much to say really."

"So?" dismissed Youngblood. "Tell us about the not so much then."

"Don't be shy cutie pie."

Danny blushed again at the nickname and suggested, "Well uh... just ask me something and I'll answer if I can."

"What are your hobbies?" asked Johnny.

"Playing video games mostly and sometimes traveling to far off places."

"Where do you stay?" questioned Youngblood.

"In a tower."

"How long have you been a member of the ghost community?" asked Spectra.

"About 4 months."

"How did you go?" the ghost in the long grey jacket asked.

"Huh?"

"You know, how did your 'untimely demise' happen?"

"Oh uh... I'd rather not say..."

"How come?" questioned the ghost in elf attire.

"Why not tell us cutie pie?" frowned the red head.

After blushing yet again, Danny explained, "Because if I did, you wouldn't feel like eating or drinking anything for the rest of the night."

The group raised their brows. Though they didn't buy that his untimely demise was that bad.

"So its worse than what happened to me and Kitty?" asked Johnny.

"Depends on what happened to you two," said Danny.

"Johnny hit a pothole while we were riding his motorcycle and we fell off the side of a cliff," revealed Kitty.

"In that case my situation is still worse."

"What about me?" pointed Youngblood to himself. "I ran off while my parents were busy arguing and I got hit by a car."

"Not even close."

"What?! You've gotta be kidding me!"

"How about being poisoned by a client's jealous wife who couldn't get over the fact that her husband no longer wanted her?" interrupted Spectra.

Danny raised his brows in surprise.

"That actually happened to you?"

"Yes."

"Oh... sorry but I still win or lose I guess."

And that's when the group groaned and begged Danny to tell them. He tried to say no politely but they wouldn't stop unless they had got an answer out of him.

"Ok, I'll tell you." sighed Danny folding to ecto pressure. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

The group smiled in anticipation.

"I was skinned alive by a machete. Not only that but I was doused with rubbing alcohol during the process."

The group's expressions had turned into ones filled with horror and disgust.

"That..." started Kitty.

"Is..." next Johnny.

"Much..." followed Youngblood.

"...Worse." finished Spectra.

All at once, the four walked to the trash can and tossed their plates/cups into it before returning.

"Told ya," said Danny while eating his food.

"Yeah yeah," grumbled the elf attired ghost.

In the next moment a different person approached the group.

"My bad for bailing like that," apologized a female with a flaming blue ponytail joining the group.

"Its okay Em," dismissed Kitty. "Say hi to our new friend."

The flame haired ghost girl looked to the boy in the black cloak.

"How's it going? I'm..."

"Ember Mclain," cut off Danny.

The pop princess blinked.

"You know me?"

"I heard your music once or twice."

"So you're a fan?"

"I wouldn't say that," replied the cloaked teen boy coldly.

"Oh... And what's your name if you don't mind me asking."

"Phantom. Danny Phantom."

"Danny Phantom? Hm... (Why does he look so familiar...?)"

"I have to get a drink. Excuse me."

Danny left the group.

While he was gone, Kitty said, "You missed out on the conversation Em. Danny was telling us about himself."

"Really?" said Ember showing mild interest. "Like what?"

"His hobbies," answered Johnny

"Where he stays," added Youngblood.

"How long he's been dead," joined Spectra.

"And how it happened," finished the green haired girl. "Trust me when I say you do not want to know."

The group nodded in agreement at Kitty's advice.

"I'll take your word for it," said Ember noticing the looks on their faces. "But tell me about the other stuff."

"He likes playing video games."

"Don't forget he likes to travel too," reminded her boyfriend.

"The guy lives in a tower," informed the elf attired ghost.

"And he's been dead for almost 4 months," stated the red head.

"So he's new?" asked the pop princess.

"Yep," the group answered in unison.

"Anything else?"

"Not yet but we're about to ask him a little more about himself when he gets back," said Kitty.

Ember shifted her eyes away from the group to find the teen boy. She saw him making his way out the door after saying something to Pandora.

"I don't think he's coming back," commented Ember.

"What makes you say that?" questioned Youngblood.

"He just left out the door."

"That's too bad," said Johnny. "I kinda like the kid."

Outside Pandora's residence...

"Did you enjoy your time in there?" asked Clockwork.

"Up until she came..." Danny sourly replied.

"Its only natural. Would you like to go back home?"

"If you don't mind."

"Very well. Let's go."

The two flew upwards and away from the site of the Christmas Party.


	6. Chapter 6

Back inside Pandora's residence at the Christmas Party...

"So how are you and tin butt two holding up?" asked Spectra to Ember.

Kitty glared at the red head.

"Spectra!"

"What?" said Penny not understanding why her friend was mad. "Its a good question."

The pop princess looked down out the corner of her eye.

"We're not together anymore..."

The group blinked.

"Seriously?" asked Johnny surprised.

"Yeah..." nodded the flame haired ghost girl.

"How come?" inquired Youngblood.

Ember remained silent and Kitty walked over to comfort her.

"Its okay Em. You don't have to answer that."

"She doesn't?" said the elf attired ghost with raised brows.

Kitty turned her head to give Youngblood a death glare. The small ghost gulped while sweatdropping.

"Oh right... she doesn't..."

In the next moment, Skulker came walking into the door and Spectra was the first to notice.

"Looks like trouble in the form of the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter."

The whole group minus Ember and Spectra turned their heads to see Skulker fixing food for himself at one of the tables.

"(Please don't notice me,)" prayed Ember for the first time in her afterlife. "(Please don't notice me.)"

"Is that you Ember?" asked a voice the pop princess knew all too well.

She cursed under her breath as the ghost hunter approached the group. He looked around at everybody and said with a nod to each, "Merry Christmas Kitty, Johnny 13, Youngblood, and Penelope."

The group nodded back to him and said in unison, "Merry Christmas Skulker."

Then the mechanical ghost shifted his gaze to the flame haired ghost.

"Merry Christmas to you too Ember."

The pop princess shifted uncomfortably before turning to face him with her body. Though her eyes were looking away out the bottom corners.

"Back at you Skulker..."

Johnny, Youngblood, Spectra and Kitty looked between the two of them silently until one decided to speak after a minute. It was the hunter.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course you can," butted in Kitty. "Go right ahead."

"In _private_."

"Whatever you plan on saying to Ember in private you can say in front of all of us."

"Is that how you feel Ember? Would you like for them to hear what I have to say?"

The pop princess folded her arms and said, "We can talk in private."

Kitty faced her flame haired friend.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Em?"

"I'll be fine," assured the pop princess though it didn't sound convincing to the group.

"... Ok. But if anything happens..."

"I'll call you."

Without another word, the rocker followed Skulker to the door and the two went outside. When they were far away from the door and Pandora, Skulker turned to face Ember.

"Why did you end things between us?"

"You know why," responded the ghost girl.

With a raised brow, the hunter said, "You're blaming me?"

The pop princess didn't respond.

"I haven't done anything wrong!"

Ember remained silent.

"Why should I get punished for something you asked me to do?!"

The rocker winced at his question.

"You're the one who called me remember? Remember!?"

And that's when Ember snapped at him with tear filled eyes.

"I KNOW OK?! BUT YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED WHEN I ASKED YOU TO!"

"Skulker stops for no one!" stated the mechanical ghost. "Not even you! You know that! I told you that before and after the start of our relationship! If anyone is to blame it is you! So don't point the finger at me because you had a last second change of heart!"

"I don't blame you. I blame myself..."

Both of Skulker's eyebrows raised after she said that.

"I can't even look at myself in the mirror anymore. I can't eat, I can't sleep... I just want to float off somewhere and die for what I did."

She covered her face with both hands and fell to her knees. While she sobbed quietly, the hunter rubbed the back of his neck. Clearly, he didn't know what he could do for her at this point. As he brainstormed ideas, he noticed Kitty standing in the doorway with folded arms. Then he shifted his focus to his ex-girlfriend again.

"(Clearly she's vexed by what happened.) Sorry I ever brought it up. It won't happen again."

With that, he flew away. Right after, Kitty came to her friend and gave her a hug while whispering, "Its ok Em. You're going to be fine, I promise."

Two weeks later inside Clockwork's tower...

"What kind of mission do you have for me today?" asked Danny to his guardian.

"Apparently, the Box Ghost went through a natural portal thinking that it would lead him into the human world," responded Clockwork while winding up his time staff.

"Where did it take him?"

"The human world, but in the period of the dinosaurs."

The ghost teen sighed in exasperation before muttering, "He seriously needs to stop doing this."

Clockwork pointed his staff at the time window and it came alive to view the age of dinosaurs. Then Danny hopped into the air before passing through it.

Hovering in the air of the prehistoric period, the white haired ghost looked around.

"Where the heck is he?"

"AAAAAAAAAAHH!" screamed a male's voice as it carried off into the distance.

The ghost boy did a 180 and spotted his objective target flying away from a Pterodactyl.

"Uh..." blinked Danny several times. "I hope he realizes that he can phase through things."

The flying creature snapped its beak and caught hold of the grey overalls of the ghost. The white haired ghost facepalmed.

"I forgot who I was talking about..."

Without wasting anytime, the dark cloaked teen flew after the Box Ghost and eventually caught up with him before grabbing his shoulder.

"What?!" exclaimed the panicking ghost Danny came to save. "Oh its you! Please help me!"

Danny used his power to free the Box Ghost and the two remained invisible until the flying creature was gone.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to go through natural portals?" chided Danny.

The ghost in overalls shrugged with an embarrassed grin.

After returning back to the tower and letting the Box Ghost go...

"Onto your next assignment," began Clockwork. "You will be assisting the Observants."

The white haired teen blinked.

"Those eyeballs? What do they want?"

"Apparently the warden known as Walker has under his custody a ghost that they were after. After some negotiations, an arrangement was made to transfer said ghost to their jurisdiction. It is your job to oversee that nothing impedes this process."

"Ok. But I don't see the point of all this. Its not like someone is going to hijack this prisoner or something. Ghosts typically look out for themselves."

Danny turned and made his way out. Clockwork smirked when he was out of sight.

Half an hour later, the ghost boy flew high above Walker's goons as they escorted the powerful weather ghost known as Vortex to his new prison.

"Looking good so far," Danny muttered to himself before the prisoner became violent within his casing.

"I will make all of you suffer my... AAAAAAAAGH!"

"You need to settle down inmate," said one of the ghost police after Vortex experienced a severe shock. "Otherwise the Spectral Barometer will force you to."

The weather ghost groaned as sizzling heat issued from his body.

"He's just like the Box Ghost," compared Danny while shaking his head. "Just doesn't know when to quit."

Then all of a sudden, ghost rays were fired striking the escorts/guards.

"What in the..."

The rest of the ghost police readied their weapons and fired ahead. Danny looked ahead to see who they were aiming at. He spotted a blue faced ghost with red eyes that wore black gloves and a cape. The ghost also had a standing curving in shaped hair-do. If Danny didn't know any better he'd say the ghost looked like Dracula from the movies.

"Are you serious?" taunted the Dracula ghost while manifesting a mirror shield out of his palm. "This is child's play!"

Then the ghost with the weird hairdo fired ghost rays that took out many more guards. After dispatching the last of them a minute later, the ghost thought he was free to do as he pleased until...

"Sorry," said Danny descending. "I can't let you have him."

"Says who?" questioned the Dracula looking ghost before shifting his gaze upward.

"Says me."

As soon as his eyes locked onto the teen ghost, who had glowing green fists at the ready, he froze.

"What?! But it can't be!? How?! This must be a trick! It has to be!"

"Uh... what are you talking about?"

"Did you come this way from passing on as a human or were you born a ghost?"

"The former..."

"How long ago was it?"

"A couple of months...

"Was it in September by chance?"

"Uh... how did you...?"

The Dracula looking ghost cut him off.

"Tell me, what is your name?"

"I don't see how that's important."

"I know, but humor me!"

"Ok... I'm Danny Phantom."

"Danny Phantom you say?" repeated the strange ghost while rubbing his chin.

"Yeah..." nodded Danny feeling uncomfortable. "What's with these questions dude? Are we going to fight or not?"

"If my theory is correct then you must be the son of Jack and Maddie Fenton."

The ghost boy blinked.

"Wait... you know my mom and dad?"

Then the dracula looking ghost flew towards Danny fast. He tried to react in time but couldn't. But luckily he didn't have to because the strange ghost didn't attack him. Instead it hugged him tight.

"Are you alright my boy? How are you doing?"

Feeling a little weird, the ghost boy replied, "Uh... why are you hugging me? Do we know each other or something?"

The other ghost chuckled and let him go.

"Oh right. Where are my manners? I am Vlad Masters.

Danny blinked in confusion.

"Uncle Vlad?"

"Yes little badger. It is I."

"But... how? Did you die like me?"

Vlad shook his head.

"No my boy. I will explain it in good time, but first follow me."

"Sorry, I can't. I have to make sure this Vortex guy is brought to the Observants."

"Oh right. Would you like me to assist you?"

"Uh... but didn't you try to stop that?"

"I did at first but now that I know its your responsibility to safely escort him I will cease my actions and help you on your mission."

"Okay."

Then the two brought Vortex to his new prison safely after almost half an hour. When that was accomplished, Danny followed Vlad back to a portal and the two landed in a lab.

"What is this place?" asked Danny looking around.

"It is my laboratory," answered Vlad.

"You have a lab?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Years."

"And you never told anyone I'm guessing."

"No."

"So... back to my earlier question. How are you a ghost?"

"It's simple really," started Vlad as a dark ring appeared at his center before splitting and going in opposite directions thus transforming the dracula looking ghost into the billionaire Danny remembered. "I'm half ghost and half human or by the technical term a halfa my boy."

"Halfa?" gaped Danny after witnessing the change. "But how?"

"An accident gave me ghost powers back in college. Thanks to your father clumsily making a foolish mistake."

And that's when things started to make sense to the ghost boy. Why the relationship between Vlad and his father was rocky and never smooth.

"Is that why you were mad at my dad? Because he..."

"Yes, but I no longer carry the grudge anymore. We're on the best of terms again like how we used to be."

"Let me guess. It had something to do with what happened to me."

"I wish I could say no but..." started Vlad with a heavy sigh. "Death has a way of putting what matters most in perspective."

"I understand," nodded Danny not bothered by the reason. "As long as some good came out of it then its fine."

Vlad smiled as he felt a burden of guilt in his heart lift.

"So.." started the ghost boy about to change the subject. "How come you ambushed Walker's crew like that?"

The billionaire's smile faded and he hung his head down.

"I'm ashamed to admit it but I did it to get revenge for you."

Taken aback, the ghost boy replied, "Revenge?"

"Ever since I found out what happened to you I wanted to pay back the ghosts responsible for the atrocity. So I planned on freeing Vortex so he can cause chaos in the Ghost Zone."

Danny frowned at his uncle.

"You didn't have to do that. Not for me anyway. Besides, don't you know that its wrong to hurt the innocent?"

"I know Daniel, but not everybody is as pure hearted as you. Take me for example. When I love something, I become obsessed with it and I can't live without it. And when someone takes that something from me I get angry. And when I get angry I want payback. And when I want payback I become blinded by rage. Its not like I want to dishonor your memory. It's just that I loved you so much to the point where I felt like if I had stood still and did nothing then it would be a betrayal to you. Do you understand me my boy?"

Danny thought for a few seconds and nodded.

"I guess I would have done the same thing too if I were in your shoes. Especially after hearing about the circumstances of my death. No parent or relative should have to go through that."

"Thank you understanding."

"So how is everybody doing?"

"Honestly, the best considering the circumstance. Although, you're parents have retired from their ghostly research and all that."

"They did?" blinked the ghost boy in astonishment. Clearly, Danny did not expect his parents to give up their ghost work.

"They felt like they were responsible for what happened to you and so they made sure it wouldn't happen ever again. Namely to Jasmine."

"(That explains why I haven't seen the Fenton Portal.) Speaking of Jazz, how is she? Also, what about my friends, Sam and Tucker?"

"Your friends and your sister have become really close to each other. The best of friends I would say."

"I did not expect that but that makes me happy."

"Would you like to see them again?"

"Uh..." uttered Danny while scratching the side of his head and looking away. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not little badger?"

"I sorta let that part of me go. I'm just Danny Phantom now. Danny Fenton is..."

"Your past life?" finished Vlad.

Danny nodded.

"Very well. I will keep your existence hidden for now. But if you ever have a change of heart..."

"I'll let you know. And thanks uncle Vlad."

Danny turned and was about to hop into the portal until...

"One last thing Daniel," called the billionaire and Danny turned.

"Yeah?"

"You are more than welcome to visit me anytime you wish. Also, thank you for treating me like family. Its made me happier than you'll ever know."

Danny smiled.

"I'll keep those things in mind."

Then the ghost boy hopped into the portal. Arriving at Clockwork's tower sometime later...

"How was your assignment?" asked Clockwork as his protégé closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around him.

"Thanks."

The purple cloaked ghost hugged him back with an arm.

"Any time."


	7. Chapter 7

A few days later at Ember's realm, the pop princess was curled up into a ball on her bed with her flaming ponytail put out. Her makeup was in ruins, she was skinnier than before and she had lifeless glassy eyes. But in her mind was worse. She remembered the sound of the screaming teen boy as Skulker's blade carved its way into his flesh. Although, she tried to stop it midway, the hunter wouldn't be denied and so it continued until the job was complete. Right after, Ember made up her mind to follow through with the plan now that she was in this deep. So she steeled herself and stuffed Skulker's 'Art' into a box followed by attaching a note she had wrote beforehand to it. Then with Skulker's help, carried it all the way to the Fenton Portal and slid it through for the Fentons to find it. And that was that as far as she was concerned. Revenge complete and a job well done. Only... things were not so simple. Or rather actions weren't without consequence. Because then the nightmares came. Followed by haunting images of the boy in the corner of her eyes wherever she went. But when she tried to lock in on the image, he disappeared. Almost like a ghost. It had gotten so bad to the point where she could see blood on her hands and no matter how much you cleaned them, the red liquid wouldn't leave. And so, the pop princess ate less often than she normally did. She couldn't focus on music anymore. Her guitar collected dust in the corner from not being played in months. Her place was a mess and she didn't care at all. Ember was no longer the rocking revolutionary girl. She was the abated anorexic girl.

"So stupid..." Ember chiding herself. "He helped me... and I... killed him... his blood... is on me... I deserve... to die... Babypop didn't deserve it... Babypop definitely didn't deserve it..."

Then after a few seconds another face came to the forefront of Ember's thoughts. The face at the Christmas Party. The boy named...

"Weird... His name was Danny... but wasn't that Babypop's name too? I think I remember his dad calling him that in the lab when we... er I was trying to escape..."

She thought some more and the information she was told about him came to mind.

"He likes playing games... and traveling... he lives in a tower... and has been dead for 4 months. Wait... that's..."

Her eyes brows furrowed a bit as she remembered what Phantom said to her.

"He said... he knew who I was and... he heard my music before...!"

The pop princess covered her mouth as her eyes widened.

"Its him...! He's Phantom...! No wonder he left after talking to me...!"

Then she sat up.

"I have to talk to him! I have to say I'm sorry!"

Without a second thought, Ember pulled out her phone and dialed Kitty.

"Hey Kitty. No, I'm okay. Just shut up for a second please!? I need to ask you something important. Thanks and I'm sorry for telling you to shut up. That tower that Phantom guy told you about. You know, the one he stays in. Did he say where it is or who it belongs to? He didn't... oh then nevermind. I'll find out somehow. Thanks again. Bye.

The rocker hung up.

"Maybe Pandora knows something about him. Too bad I don't have her number. If she even has a phone. Most ghosts her age don't. Looks like I gotta take a trip."

She hopped out of bed and flew towards the stairs.

Sometime later at Pandora's door...

"Hi miss Pandora..." greeted Ember with a frown as soon as the tall ghost woman opened the door.

"Ember?" blinked Pandora. "What are you doing at my door? And how come you look so glum and distraught since last I saw you?"

"Its a long story, but I need you to answer a question for me."

"Shoot darling."

"You remember a teenage boy ghost with white hair at the Christmas Party? I think he wore a black cloak and...

"You mean Danny Phantom?"

"Yeah."

"What about him?"

"Can you tell me where his pad is? I was told he crashes at a tower but I don't know which or where its at."

"Why certainly. He resides with Clockwork."

Ember blinked.

"The time ghost?"

"The very one," nodded Pandora. "Phantom is his protégé."

The pop princess gaped while sweatdropping.

"I didn't know that..."

"Not surprising. Clockwork usually keeps his affairs hush hush."

"Thanks for the info."

"You're welcome. Please say hi to them for me if you see them."

Ember nodded and turned before leaving.

Not too long later...

The pop princess made her way inside and up to the top of the tower that was owned by Clockwork. Usually, she wouldn't have dared to set a foot inside the place. But today wasn't a usual day for her. It was the day where she had to try to talk to the teen who she had 'wronged'. The same teenage boy who helped her break out of that nightmare of a lab. The one who treated her like an actual human being rather than a ghost or a lab rat. The one who stared at her with those innocent baby blue eyes. Although, now that she thinks about it, that's another thing she stole from him. The guilt swells up inside her heart as she enters the main room of the top floor.

"Greetings miss Mclain," said the purple cloaked ghost near the center of the area.

Ember blinked as the master of time turned to face her.

"How did you...?"

"I expected your arrival for some time. After all, I know practically everything there is to know."

"So you..."

"Yes. I know the reason why you are here and what _happened_."

Ember looked down to the side in response to the bluntness of his tone. She could tell he wasn't happy. Not like he wasn't justified in feeling that way. After all, its her fault his protégé wound up here in the Ghost Zone in the first place.

"And him?" enquired the pop princess.

"No. But he will be here in under a minute."

"Is he..."

"I will leave that for him to answer."

The room fell silent for a few seconds.

"Pandora says hi..." relayed Ember not knowing what else to do.

"Message received," stated Clockwork.

"Clockwork I'm back," signaled Danny as he entered the area. Upon seeing Ember's back after advancing a few steps, he froze. He didn't have to see the face. He could tell what she looked like from any angle. Even if the flame in the shape of a ponytail wasn't kindled.

"I believe you two have things to discuss," said Clockwork to the two.

Danny and Ember remained silent and unmoving.

"I will give you both some privacy."

With that said, the master of time vanished from the room. After he did, Danny walked past Ember to where Clockwork was standing and turned to face her with a cold stare.

"So you've figured it out," stated Danny almost like a question.

"Yeah..." replied Ember quietly, but loud enough to be heard over the ticking and tocking of clocks.

"How long did it take you?"

"Today..."

The ghost boy studied her appearance.

"You look like you've seen better days."

"Yeah..."

"Now you know how I feel."

Ember grabbed her left shoulder.

"Minus the knife in the back."

The ghost girl squeezed that arm tight.

"Oh wait, I take it back. You don't know how I feel. How could you? You weren't the one that was skinned by Skulker!"

At this, the pop princess winced.

"Not only that, but your mother, father, sister, best friends, and uncle never had their lives turned upside down the way mine did!"

Tears cascaded out of the ghost girl's eyes as she bit her lower lip.

"Speaking of uncles, mine planned on attacking the whole Ghost Zone because of what happened to me! Thank God Clockwork sent me out on assignment or a lot of ghosts would have suffered because of what you did!"

Ember covered her mouth.

"But you don't care about that do you?! You just to do whatever 'Ember Mclain' wants to do! Screw everybody else who gets hurt along the way! They're just collateral damage! Right?! RIGHT?!

The pop princess lifted her head and argued back, "That's not true!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"THEN WHAT WAS I TO YOU?!"

Ember looked down at her feet and sobbed, but Danny continued in spite of that.

"A scapegoat, a pawn?! OR A SHEEP TO BE LED TO THE SLAUGHTER?!"

The rocker lifted her head up again.

"YOU WERE THEIR SON!"

She stared determinedly at the ghost boy with eyes full of tears.

"I suffered for a whole month and some change! I was treated like a stupid lab rat that had no feelings! They cut me with scalpels, they injected me with something that made me feel sick as a cancer patient, they tested their stupid weapons on me, and they made me drink strange liquids that made me puke my guts out every five seconds! I cried for mercy and begged for them to stop! But they didn't! I know you weren't there when they put me through that hell, but don't pretend like it didn't happen and you were the only one who suffered because you're not!"

Then the ghost girl frowned.

"Maybe if you had noticed a lot sooner things would have turned out different, but by the time you had found me, I already swore revenge by any means necessary. You could say that I was blinded by it."

Danny thought silently for a few seconds.

"I might not have been there, but I saw it."

Ember blinked in confusion.

"Clockwork made me watch what my parents put you through the first day I got here," confessed the ghost boy pulling back on some of the anger he had towards her. "The whole thing from start to finish. I admit that it made me want to kill my parents too. But I don't think I would have done what you did by involving the innocent. Much less the person who helped set you free."

Ember looked down at her feet and sobbed again. The two remained nonverbal for nearly a minute. In which time, the sounds of ticking clocks and shifting gears filled the room. That was until Danny decided to say something else.

"If you're looking for forgiveness you already have it. That goes for Skulker too."

Ember picked her head up to look at him in astonishment.

"I forgave the two of you as soon as I recognized the full scope of what you've been through. But, even more importantly, I'm not the type of guy to hold grudges. Although, now that I see what kind of state you're in, I think you have to find a way to forgive yourself."

Ember fell to her knees and covered her face with both hands.

"I'm sorry Danny...! I'm so sorry...!"

The ghost boy closed the distance between them and took Ember's hands in his to help her up once more. Right after that, he led her out of the tower quietly. She didn't bother asking where he was taking her. In fact, she didn't talk at all. Ember only knew that she had to go with him. Wherever that may be, Danny knew and it was good enough for her.


	8. Chapter 8

A short while later they arrived at Ember's place and he told her to sit in bed when they went up to the second floor. The ghost girl did as directed without a word. Then Danny went to the very back.

About 30 minutes to an hour later...

"Here," said Danny handing Ember a plate full of freshly cooked food. She stared at it for a few seconds before eating slowly. Then the white haired boy sat down next to her. Neither one said a word to the other at this time. It wasn't necessary. Everything that needed to be said was already said back at Clockwork's tower. People didn't matter. Friends and loved ones could wait. Hate was a distant memory. All that was left was healing.

Sometime later that day...

Kitty, Johnny, Youngblood, and Spectra arrived at Ember's door and knocked. When the door came open, the group was surprised to see that Danny Phantom was the one to answer the door.

"Danny?" blinked Kitty.

"Where's Ember?" asked Youngblood who was currently dressed like a cowboy.

"Hey guys," greeted Danny with a neutral expression. "I know you're probably worried about your friend but she needs some time to sort things out."

"What are you doing here kid?" asked Johnny 13.

"I'm helping her with the sorting."

"Why?" enquired Spectra a little interested.

"Not sure to be honest."

"Are you sure its not hormones cutie pie?"

Danny looked away with a heated blush. Kitty elbowed her friend.

"Ow!"

Then the green haired girl said, "Take good care of her ok?"

Danny nodded and right after that, the group had flown off. Spectra groaned as she folded her arms.

"How come I can't get a cute guy to take care of me?"

Kitty smiled before replying, "That's because you drive them all off."

Johnny and Youngblood laughed. The red head growled as she glared ahead.

The night...

Ember was lying in bed, but she wasn't sleep. Danny moved to get up from the end of the bed.

"Danny..." called the ghost girl.

"Yeah?" said the dark cloaked teen turning.

"Are you leaving?"

"No, I was gonna sleep downstairs."

"Ok."

With that, the teen boy went to the stairs and moved down to the first floor.

In the middle of the night, Ember tossed and turned in her sleep.

"Stop... no... please... I don't want you to... no... stop. Stop! STOP!"

She sat up in bed sweating and panting heavily. After the pop princess had calmed down, she looked around the room and placed a hand on her chest.

"Just a dream. Right..."

The ghost girl dropped her head back onto the soft pillow and inhaled deep. Then she closed her eyes and let slumber take hold.

The next day...

"I think you should take a shower," suggested Danny. "While you're doing that, I'll whip us up something to eat.

"Ok," nodded Ember.

Then without another word, the two headed in different directions and did as the ghost boy recommended.

30 minutes later...

Ember was sitting in bed wearing black and blue flamed pajamas while eating blueberry pancakes, bacon, toast, and eggs slowly. Then she stopped without finishing half with her eyes locked on the plate.

"Danny..." the ghost girl called.

The boy stopped eating with his eyes locked on his plate as well.

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to be rude, but won't Clockwork be upset with you for leaving?"

"He understands. Besides, he doesn't really need me around."

"Don't say that. He does need you."

"Yeah, but not as much as you do."

Then Ember's plate and fork fell out of her hands to the floor. Tears came out of her eyes and she sobbed. Danny put his food down and took her hands in his.

"Its ok. You don't have to cry."

"I know but... I don't deserve it Danny..."

"Look into my eyes."

She didn't. At least not until the white haired boy cupped her chin and gently shifted her face in his direction.

"You're sorry about what happened right?"

She nodded.

"And it will never happen again?"

She nodded again.

"Do you want me to be upset?"

She shook her head.

"Then promise me that you'll eat and not worry about what you deserve."

"...Ok. I promise."

That night...

Ember had another nightmare. In it, there was a feminine shadow ghost with flaming black hair like hers and red eyes. She had on an outfit like Ember's except it was all white. The Shadow Ember snickered.

"I know what you did Ember. Hehehe."

Ember took a step back as the ghost's fists glowed a threatening green.

"I'm sorry!" apologized the real Ember. "Please don't...!

"Its a little too late for apologies Ember."

The fake raised raised a hand and attacked. The next thing Ember knew she saw green and she was waking up out of her sleep. The ghost girl was sweating while sitting up and if her heart was alive, that would be beating 20 times a second.

"Another nightmare..." muttered Ember panting.

"Is it?"

Ember turned her head and saw the glowing fist coming at her. Then she woke up(For real this time).

"Holy crap...?!"

That was it for her. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight. So the pop princess hopped out of bed and went to the game room to get in a few rounds of Hyper Hack Fiends.

A week later...

"You're looking better than before," observed Danny with a smile.

The ghost girl smiled back before saying, "Thanks to you."

The two were in her studio taking a break. Apparently, Ember had finally felt good enough to rock out. Even if only for a little while.

"Don't give me all the credit," started the white haired teen. "You had it in you all along. I just helped nudge you in the right direction."

"Well, thanks for that too. Ready to play some more?"

"Only if you don't criticize my bad performance."

Ember looked up in thought before saying, "I'll... try not to be too critical. No promises."

"I suppose that's better than nothing."

The two grabbed their instruments and prepared themselves mentally.

"Time to jam," signaled Ember. "In a 1 and a 2 and a 3!"

That night while the ghost girl was dreaming...

"You ready to pay the piper?" asked Shadow Ember.

The real Ember smirked and pulled out her guitar. The shadow ghost before her raised an eyebrow or two.

"I'm ready to kick your butt," answered the pop princess before she engaged her dark copy. With an exchange of fist beams, sound waves, and guitar swings, the fight lasted for quite a while. That was until the real Ember somehow had gained the upper hand against her foe. And then...

"W-what are you doing?!" growled the real Ember before demanding, "Let him go!"

The shadow giggled with Danny Fenton in her grip and a glowing finger pointed at the boy's temple.

"What are you gonna do now Ember?" snickered Shadow Ember.

"Ember..." struggled Danny to breathe. "Help..."

The real pop princess sweatdropped not knowing what to do.

"Time's almost up!" said the fake. "5... 4..."

"Stop!" shouted Ember.

"3... 2..."

Tears cascaded out of the original Ember's eyes.

"Kill me instead!"

"1... and..."

And a small focused ghost ray was fired followed by Danny Fenton collapsing to the ground. Ember tried to run over to him but her foe stepped in the way and blasted her with monsterous power.

"AAH!" cried Ember as she sat up in bed with widened eyes. "That was...!"

After glancing around the room, she figured out what had happened. Then the pop princess pinched the bridge between her eyes.

"Another nightmare..."

"AAAAAAAGH!"

Ember blinked and lowered her hand.

"What was that?"

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!"

"Sounds like its coming from downstairs...! Oh no... Danny!"

Without wasting anytime, Ember flew out of bed and headed for the stairs. As soon as she made it to the bottom floor, she saw Danny twisting and turning on the couch. And he was screaming. Almost like he was in agony.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

"Danny?!" sweatdropped Ember.

"Stop! Please! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

She ran over and shook the boy.

"Danny! DANNY! WAKE UP!"

The white haired boy's eyes popped open and once he saw Ember he rose to his feet before backing away. His fists glowed green as he threatened, "STAY BACK!"

Then he fired a ghost ray in his panicked state which Ember managed to dodge by a few inches.

Ember put her hands up and said, "Calm down Danny! You were having a nightmare!"

The teen blinked and fell silent. After a few seconds, the glow from his hands died out.

"Oh... right..." exhaled Danny sharply. "Sorry about that."

"Are you ok?" asked the ghost girl feeling a little concerned.

Danny nodded.

"What was that?"

"That?"

The ghost boy looked away.

"It was nothing."

Ember studied him closely for a few seconds before something dawned in her mind.

"How long?"

"I don't follow you."

"Post Traumatic Death Disorder. How long have you had it?"

Danny let out a sigh.

"Since the first day..."

The ghost girl bit her lower lip.

"How often?

"Its not really a big..."

"How often Danny?

"A couple of times a week."

The pop princess clenched her shaking hands.

"This the first time since you've been helping me?"

"Ember..."

"Is this the first time since you've been helping me?"

The white haired teen shook his head and Ember winced.

"How many?"

Danny didn't respond as tears formed in the flame haired ghost's eyes.

"So it was every night..."

"I'll be..."

"NO!"

Ember looked up at him full of pain and heartache.

"Don't you dare say you'll be alright. You went through something horrible thanks to me. And because of that, you have one of the worst psychological issues a ghost could have. Why didn't you say anything?"

Danny shifted his gaze to her and scratched the side of his head.

"I was hoping that you wouldn't notice with me being downstairs at night. But it looks like the cat is out of the bag now huh?"

"Why don't you just save yourself a lot of pain and go?"

"Because that will only cause me more pain," frowned Danny.

Ember blinked in confusion.

"Yeah it might suck to have a nightmare or two... or seven. But I can live with that. However, abandoning someone I consider to be friend will kill me all over again. So no, I won't leave you."

The pop princess shuddered at his words.

"Oh Danny...!"

She ran to him and hugged him tight. As she cried into his chest, he gently stroked the back of her head. After a few minutes, Ember had managed to settle down. Then the two parted.

"All better?" Danny asked with a smile.

"I think so," answered Ember wiping her eyes dry with her forearm. "But I should be asking you that."

The ghost boy chuckled.

"I'm okay. But I think we should try to get some sleep."

Ember shook her head.

"No."

Danny frowned.

"Why not?"

"Not unless you sleep with me."

The ghost boy blushed and blinked.

"H-huh?"

"Now that I know about your nightmares, there's really no point in you staying down here. Not only that but I've been having nightmares too. I was thinking that... maybe if we slept in the same bed then it would help."

Danny scratched the side of his head as he looked away.

"That's kinda personal don't you think? A guy and a girl sleeping in the same bed?"

The ghost girl's cheeks burned as she looked away too.

"W-what about if we um... sleep head to toe?"

The white haired teen thought for a few seconds.

"I uh... guess that could work."

A minute or two later, the two were in the large bed upstairs just like Ember had suggested.

"I gotta admit that this bed is more comfortable than the one at Clockwork's," confessed Danny.

"I don't mean to brag or anything but I only get the best stuff," said Ember.

"I can see why. It feels like I'm lying on a cloud."

And then Danny yawned.

"Well anyway. Goodnight Ember."

"You too Danny."

The two closed their eyes and they were soon fast asleep.

While Ember was sleeping, she was having a dream and in that dream she was battling against the shadow Ember from her last nightmare. The pop princess was ripping her a new one and her foe cried out in pain. No doubt that last nightmare's conclusion had sparked a fire within the real Ember that could not be put out. However, it was short lived because in a last act of desperation, Shadow Ember managed to snatch up Danny like before. Ember stopped in her tracks and glared at her.

"Looks like you've come up short again little Ember," snickered the vile copy. With a glowing finger pressed against Danny's temple, the fiendish ghost enjoyed having her opponent in an unwinnable situation. "Any final words before he meets his maker, or ghost caretaker?"

"Yeah," smirked Ember placing a hand on her hip. "Cut the act babypop."

The shadow ghost's smile had faded as confusion set in on her features. Right then, Danny had somehow transformed into Danny Phantom with the black cloak, the white hair, and pale blue skin. The shadow ghost stumbled backwards as Danny escaped her clutches to join at the real Ember's side. While staring their opponent down, Danny asked, "Ready?"

"Let's kick her butt."

Then they rushed her simultaneously. The shadow ghost sweatdropped and swallowed before the two showed her the real meaning of pain.

Outside of the dream, Ember smiled in her sleep.

Meanwhile inside Danny's head...

He was in the same situation as he was before he died.

"How long..." uttered Danny still scared out of his mind despite the kiss he had received.

"How long what?"

"How long have you been planning this?"

"As soon as I found out that you were their son back in the lab."

"My parents were right... you ghosts are malevolent spirits..."

The pop princess shrugged.

"Sometimes. But your parents started it first so blame them for what is about to happen."

"And I thought they were wrong..." said the teen now looking down in regret. "I'm so stupid..."

"You'd best say your prayers because you're in for a world of excruciating pain." warned Skulker as he approached with the machete after Ember backed away.

Danny closed his eyes as soon as the hunter took aim and was about to make contact with the teen's body. But then both heard a loud boom of music followed by a sharp cry from Skulker. Danny eyes popped open and he noticed Ember with a guitar held at the ready.

"Ember?!" he exclaimed in total shock.

The pop princess looked his way for a moment and winked. Then she faded away. Skulker groaned from the side of the room where he was blasted to. After rubbing the top of his head he asked, "Ugh... who did that?"

Danny in that moment saw his opportunity and transformed into Danny Phantom thus shattering the binds that held him in place.

"You don't remember? Here, I'll help jog your memory."

The ghost boy's fists charged with ecto energy before he went at Skulker like there was no tomorrow.

Outside of the dream, Danny smiled in his sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day in the morning...

Ember whiffed in the alluring aroma of breakfast being cooked before her eyes fluttered open.

"Mmm..." smiled the ghost girl. "That smells good..."

She sat up and yawned before floating out of bed; followed by making her way over to the kitchen area.

After placing her chin on top of Danny's head, the rocker asked, "Whatcha cookin Chef Danny?"

The ghost boy chuckled lightly with a warm smile.

"Waffles, blue berry sauce, bacon, eggs..."

Then the oven made a ding sound which surprised Ember.

"And cinammon rolls."

The ghost girl wrapped her arms lovingly around his neck before saying, "You're spoiling me you know that?"

"Is that complaining I hear? Because I can stop you know."

Ember positioned her mouth close to his ear.

"You do that and my guitar's going upside your head."

"Hm... So that's what it's for."

Then the two laughed before Ember landed on her feet. At that moment, Danny turned to face her and changed the subject.

"So how did you sleep?"

"Like a baby. And you?"

"The same. No nightmares?"

"One, but I kicked butt in it. And you?"

"I did too. Looks like sleeping together really works huh?"

"Yeah."

And that's when they the two fell silent looking into each other's eyes while thinking. Thinking about how they ended up where they were today as good friends. Some might call it a crazy stroke of luck. But... what if there was something more to it? Like destiny perhaps? Then the ghost boy cleared his throat and turned to focus on the stove again.

"Oh, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" asked Ember.

"I'm gonna go check in with Clockwork today."

The ghost girl felt a little dejected in that moment and looked down.

"Oh... okay. That's fine I guess..."

Danny glimpsed over his shoulder and noticed her display. Then he used his index finger to cup her chin. Right after, the ghost girl shifted her eyes to lock onto his.

"Hey, I'll be back."

"You will?"

The boy withdrew his hand.

"Definitely. But while I'm gone, you should go say hi to the gang. Especially Kitty. I bet she's worried sick about you."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I need to get out and stretch my feet. As a matter of fact, I'll give her a call right now."

The pop princess walked away to go to her bed. After picking up her cell, she searched for Kitty's number called it.

"Hey Kitty. Yeah, its good to talk to you too. No, I'm fine. I was just wondering if you and the others had something planned for today. The guys went out without you and Spectra? That's messed up. But maybe they have the right idea now that I think about it. By that I mean we should have a day with just us girls. Shopping, manicures, pedicures... the works. Huh? What makes you say that?"

Ember glanced Danny's way. The teen in question wasn't paying attention(or at least he didn't seem like he was). Then she whispered low. "No! There's nothing going on! Look, I'm not talking about this. Meet you guys later. K. Bye."

"So how were they?"

Ember looked the boy's way a little startled.

"What?"

As the cloaked teen fixed their plates he asked, "How was Kitty and everyone else?"

"Oh... They're doing great."

"That's good."

Then he came walking over and gave one plate to Ember.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Not too long later floating outside Ember's door...

"Make sure to have lots of fun today," reminded Danny.

"I will," nodded Ember. "And you stay safe."

"I'll try."

The ghost girl raised a brow.

"Try?"

Danny shrugged.

"With Clockwork, I can never be too sure."

"Oh. Then try for me ok?"

Danny nodded and was about to turn away until Ember grabbed his wrist.

"Huh?"

He looked at her hand and then to her face. Without warning, the pop princess wrapped her arms around him.

"Thanks Danny."

The boy smiled and hugged her back.

Sometime later arriving at Clockwork's Tower...

"Welcome back Daniel," greeted Clockwork turning to face his protégé.

"Hey Clockwork," said Danny. "Any missions for me today?"

"Not at the moment, but there is one I have in mind for tomorrow."

"What is it?"

The time ghost smirked.

Meanwhile at Ember's location...

Kitty, Spectra, and Ember were trying on shoes in a shoe store.

"Give us the scoop Em," said Kitty.

"What scoop?" questioned Ember removing a red high heel.

"Don't play naive with us Emmy," smiled Spectra coyly. "Tell us all about your shacking up with cutie pie."

The pop princess blushed.

"I don't know what you're talking about Penny but nothing happened."

"Oh really?" doubted the red head raising a brow. "Absolutely nothing happened between you and cutie pie?"

"Zero..."

"So you two didn't..."

"NO!"

Everybody else in the store looked at the flame haired ghost and she took notice before lowering her voice.

"Nothing happened ok?!"

"What a shame. I would have rocked his world if I were you. Get it? Rocked his world because you're a rocker? And also, you're very good at handling instruments? You could have put those skills to good use with him hehehe."

Ember blushed a deeper shade at her friend's comments.

"So what did you two do the whole time?" the girl with fishnet stockings asked.

"Just normal stuff I guess," responded Ember.

"Define normal."

"Rock out in my studio, play some games, watch TV plus some movies, ate some food... that kind of stuff."

"Did you learn anything about him?"

"Yep," beamed the flame haired ghost.

"I want details. And don't hold anything back."

"Ok. Well remember when you guys told me he lives in a tower?"

"Yeah."

"As it turns out, its not just any tower. He stays with that time ghost Clockhead."

The jaws of both Kitty and Spectra nearly dropped to the floor.

"He stays with him?!" gaped Kitty.

"So Clockwork is his..." started a sweatdropping Penny.

"Guardian," finished the pop princess.

"Now that you mention it he does dress like the guy in a way," commented the green haired girl. "Except his cloak is black instead of purple."

"This isn't good...!" panicked the read head. "I think I might have to get a new home...!"

"Why?" asked Ember.

"Because that time ghost knows everything; namely my dirt. Imagine what he'll do once Phantom tells him I tried to...!"

"Relax Spectra. Danny wouldn't do that."

"How do you know?"

"He told me that he doesn't hold grudges."

"How do you know he wasn't lying?"

"Because..." started the pop princess before remembering what she and Skulker did to Danny. Then Ember became serious and said, "I trust him."

There was a brief silence between the three as Penny stared at Ember. Clearly she wasn't fully convinced. That was until her other friend spoke.

"I trust him too," agreed Kitty with a smile. "He's not like other ghosts. I could tell from the first moment I met him. And besides, he helped Em get better. If that doesn't show that he's a gentleghost then I don't know what does."

The red head of the group looked up in thought as she tapped her chin with a finger.

"I guess that's true. Cutie pie does give off a goodie-goodie vibe. Which is rare among the ghost community. I'll trust he won't say anything."

"So tell us more Em," demanded the green haired girl. "What else did you learn?"

Ember thought some more and said, "He can cook."

"He can?"

"Yeah. And that's not even the best part. I didn't even have to lift a finger the entire time he was at my place."

The pop princesses' two friends were floored by that revelation.

"(I can't get Johnny to crack an egg let alone cook...)" thought Kitty.

"(Cute and a chef?)" mused Spectra. "(Maybe I should make my move while he's still a bachelor...)"

"You guys feeling ok?" asked Ember while staring at them like they were crazy.

Kitty and Spectra shook their heads.

"Oh... yeah we're fine. What other secrets don't we know about him?"

"I swear if you tell me he's Superman, I'm dragging him home with me tonight."

"I think that's pretty much it," said the flame haired ghost removing some flats out of a nearby shoebox. "Everything else you guys already know."

"Not everything. For instance, where did he sleep?"

"He slept downstairs on the couch."

"The whole time?"

"Um... no."

"So he came upstairs eventually?"

"Something like that..."

"Something like that?" questioned Spectra raising a brow.

The pop princess fell silent and looked away.

"Ember?"

"I sorta asked him to... to..." trailed off the rocker as she started blushing.

"To what?"

"Sleep in the bed with me..."

The red head gaped before exclaiming, "But I thought you said that...!"

"We didn't do that."

"Then why did you ask him to sleep in your bed?"

"I um... had a nightmare... and he did too. So I suggested that we... sleep together to help with our bad dreams."

"Well... this is... so... did you cuddle up with him or...?"

The blush Ember had deepened a shade as she responded, "No... We were head to toe."

"Did it help with the nightmares?" asked Kitty.

"Yeah."

"So it was completely platonic?" followed up Spectra.

Ember narrowed her eyes.

"100 percent..."

"And where is he now?" enquired the girl with fishnet stockings.

"He went to his place..."

"Permanently or..." started the red head.

"Can you two stop grilling me and let me enjoy my day?!"

Kitty and Spectra exchanged looks with each other before nodding at their friend's request and/or demand.

"Thank you."


	10. Chapter 10

Later, after the three friends had their fun, they parted ways. Upon the flame haired ghost making her way to her door, she noticed Danny floating there which made her smile.

When Ember had closed the distance, she said, "You're back earlier than expected."

The boy in black frowned while giving her a serious look. This made the ghost girl feel uneasy.

"Why do I get the feeling you have bad news?"

"Let's talk inside," was all Danny said in response.

Ember nodded and she opened the door for them to go in.

A minute or two later sitting on the couch next to Danny, Ember asked, "What is it?"

The ghost boy sighed.

"This isn't easy for me to say, but... I have to go somewhere tomorrow."

"Ok... Is it far?"

"The living world. Specifically Wisconsin."

"What's in Wisconsin?"

"My uncle."

"You mean the one who..." started the pop princess.

"Yeah."

"Does he plan on attacking the Ghost Zone again? Because of what I did to you?"

Danny shook his head.

"Nothing like that."

"How long will you be gone?"

"A couple of days at least."

"Oh..." uttered the flame haired girl not liking the idea of Danny being gone for an uncertain amount of time.

But then Danny asked, "Would you like to go with me?"

"Go with you?" repeated Ember in confusion. "But doesn't he want to kill me?"

"Not since he found out that I was a ghost and that I didn't want anyone to avenge me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. So are you in?"

The pop princess thought for a few seconds.

"I'll go. But only because you asked."

The dark cloaked teen smiled.

"Thanks."

The next day...

Upon passing through Vlad's portal, the ghost boy spotted the man to whom it belonged looking at a monitor displayed on a wall.

"Hey uncle Vlad," greeted Danny.

The billionaire turned to face his nephew and smiled.

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise. How are you my boy?"

"Good and you?"

"Couldn't be better. So what brings you by this fine day?"

"We were hoping to spend a few days here with you if you don't mind."

"But of course. You are more than welcome to..."

And then Vlad blinked after realizing that he almost missed a keyword in Danny's inquiry.

"We?"

In the next second, Ember passed through Vlad's portal into the lab.

"Oh you've brought a guest," observed Vlad. "And who might this lovely young girl be?"

Danny and Ember exchanged looks with each other.

"She's a friend of mine," said the ghost boy. "Couldn't have adjusted to life in the Ghost Zone without her."

"In that case, you are more than welcome to stay here too." smiled the billionaire after hearing that bit of info from his nephew. "Come, I'll show you to your guest room."

Minutes later in another part of the mansion, Vlad opened one of the many guest room doors before turning to address the pair.

"I don't often have guests so you will have to pardon me for not being the best host I could possibly be."

"Its ok," said Danny.

The billionaire shifted his gaze to the ghost girl specifically.

"I don't believe I caught your name. What was it?"

"Its um..." stammered Ember at first before deciding to say, "Amber."

"Amber? As in the fossil or the color?"

"The color."

"Lovely."

And that's when Vlad's cellphone rang from his jacket.

"Excuse me."

The two ghosts nodded and the billionaire went down the hall to address the caller.

"So he doesn't know who I am but he knows what I did?" questioned Ember to Danny.

"Looks that way," said the ghost boy before asking, "And the name Amber?"

"The name I had before I died."

"Fossil or the color?"

The rocker raised a brow.

"You thought I was lying to him?"

"No."

"But you're asking anyway?"

"Wondering which one you prefer."

"Still the color."

"Your favorite one?"

Ember gave him a look.

"Actually, my favorite color is purple. Why do you ask?"

Danny shrugged.

"Just curious."

In the next second, the billionaire came walking back.

"I'm afraid I have terrible news," frowned Vlad. "There's this meeting I'm supposed to attend and it requires me to leave the state for a few days."

"That's too bad," said Danny. "Then we'll just leave and come back another day."

Vlad shook his head.

"Nonsense. I wouldn't dream of that my boy. You kids can stay here until I return."

"Are you sure?" questioned Ember.

"Absolutely. Just make yourself at home."

Minutes later, Danny and Ember waved the billionaire goodbye from the front door as he took off in a limo. Right after, the two made their way inside.

"It's really nice of him to let us stay here," commented the ghost girl. "Kinda makes me feel bad for lying to him."

"Technically you didn't," replied Danny.

"You know what I mean."

"I know, but don't worry about it. So what do you wanna do first?"

"Wanna watch a movie?"

"In our room or the home theatre?"

The pop princess blinked.

"Home theatre?""

"C'mon, I'll show you."

Sometime later in the home theatre, Ember grabbed a handful of popcorn out of the bucket they were sharing. Onscreen, there was a Warner Bros movie playing.

"Lieutenant, you were given specific orders," reminded the man in the dark business suit onscreen. And the man he was addressing said in return, "Hey, I'm just doing my job."

"How come you get to choose the first movie?" pouted Ember.

"Its my uncle's mansion and I called dibs," listed Danny.

"Fine... but I'm picking the next one and you're gonna watch the whole thing."

"Sure."

In the next moment, the two reached into the bucket and touched hands.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

They looked at each other's hands. Then they shifted their gaze to the other's face. After a few seconds, they focused ahead on the movie while blushing.

"Oh um... you go ahead."

"No, I uh... insist. You first."

"K."

After that, the two did their best not to look at each other directly.

Later during Ember's movie...

"You are a child's... plaything!" shouted a cowboy toy onscreen.

"You know," started Danny while thinking. "I was always wondering something about this movie."

"What?" said Ember.

"If toys could come to life, then what's to stop them from taking over the world?"

"That's a dumb question. Humans."

"But don't toys outnumber humans a million to one?"

"Its not about outnumbering. Toys are small and fragile."

"Small yeah, but not all of them are fragile. I stepped on an army man barefoot once and it lived to fight another day. My foot on the other hand was throbbing like crazy."

Ember stifled a laugh.

"Still, humans control the factories and stuff so naturally the toys wouldn't stand a chance."

"That's exactly what the humans thought in the last movie we watched before the machines drove them all underground."

"There is a big difference between A.I. computers and plastic toys. One is smart and the other is not."

"I don't know. Toys are capable of coming up with master plans whenever they feel up to it. Not only that, but they're also able to sneak around undetected."

"Ok. So maybe they're not dumb. But I still think they wouldn't be able to take over the world."

"So you're saying its not possible?"

"No, anything's possible. I just don't think it would happen. Because humans don't give up. No matter what, they always find a way."

"Like how my parents stopped you at your concert?"

"Exactly."

And that's when Ember blinked; realizing she had been duped. Right after, she glared at Danny.

"Hey!"

Danny chuckled.


	11. Chapter 11

After Danny and Ember were done watching movies, they walked the halls of the Green Bay Packer's decorated mansion.

"What do you wanna do now?" asked Danny.

"I don't know," said Ember. "What can we do?"

"We could hop in the pool."

"He has a pool?"

"Yep. And its indoor."

"That sounds cool, but I don't have a bathing suit."

"That's ok. I can make one for you if you want."

The pop princess blinked.

"Wait what? You can make clothes?"

"Technically, I can transform clothes," corrected the white haired teen. "Want a demonstration?"

"Ok."

The two stopped and then Danny closed his eyes. Then his whole outfit radiated green. After a few seconds, the attire disappeared and was replaced instantly with red swim trunks and a white tank top.

"What the...!?" gaped Ember in astonishment. "How did you...?!"

The ghost boy smiled.

"When you're Clockwork's protege, you learn a thing or two."

"(That explains why he doesn't have any bags at my place.)"

Then the pop princess smiled.

"Is there anything you cant do?"

Danny looked up in thought as if he didn't know what he was going to answer. After a few seconds, he shrugged.

"Hm... nope."

"Real modest aren't you?"

The ghost boy looked up in thought again. But this time, Ember rolled her eyes at the display. And then Danny shrugged.

"Sometimes. But anyway, what kind of outfit do you want and what color should it be?"

"A one piece bathing suit. And I want it to be my favorite color with a blue fire logo."

"One bathing suit coming up. But first I need to hold your hands for this to work."

"Oh... ok."

The pop princess allowed him to take her hands. She tried not to read too much into it by focusing on an autograph football nearby. It wasn't necessary though because once Danny had closed his eyes and concentrated, the ghost girl felt a tingling sensation flow through her entire body; blocking out those awkward thoughts as her outfit glowed green.

"(Whoa... this feels good. Almost like he's holding me all over.)"

Ember blushed at the thought and shook her head. Clearly, she was glad he couldn't read her mind. As far as she knew anyway. Hopefully, he couldn't. She wished he couldn't.

After a few seconds the pop princess was in the bathing suit matching the description she gave. And on the front of it was what appeared to be a flaming blue D.P symbol on her chest. The flame haired ghost noticed this.

"What's this thing?"

Danny raised a finger.

"You're wearing custom made Danny Phantom apparel. Naturally, I added my initials."

Ember raised a brow.

"Couldn't help yourself huh?"

"Nope."

Minutes later, Danny was hopping off the diving board into the pool. His action had created a big splash. The ghost boy surfaced a second after and shook his head.

"Hey!" called Ember.

"What?"

"Watch where you're splashing water!"

"Why?"

"Because I don't like getting my hair wet."

"Are you afraid your ponytail might go out?"

"No. Ghost fire cant be put out like that. I'm more worried about the non-fire parts getting messed up."

"Oh."

Then an idea came to Danny's mind and he smiled playfully as he approached the pop princess.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" questioned Ember.

"No reason."

Even though he had said that, Ember didn't trust him.

"What are you doing..." asked the ghost girl while backing away.

"Nothing. Say, come here for a second."

"No..."

And that's when he sped up but Ember turned and flew away out of the water as fast as she could. The ghost boy followed her out. Try as she might to keep a big gap between them, Danny was much faster. So when he had caught up, he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Cut it out Danny!" ordered Ember while struggling to break free, but her captor wasn't listening.

"What was that?" questioned Danny. "You want to cool off in the pool?"

"I didn't say... THAAAAA!"

The two had changed direction thanks to the ghost boy and were flying towards the water below.

"DANNY!"

**SPLASH!**

Once the two were submerged, the ghost boy let her go. Right after, Ember turned to face him with a glare, but he didn't seem bothered by it.

"Why did you have to do that?" asked Ember ticked off.

The boy shrugged with a smile.

"Couldn't help myself."

"Oh yeah? Well I couldn't help this."

All of a sudden, Ember's guitar appeared in her hands. Danny sweatdropped as he saw her change the settings on it.

"Uh... what you doing?"

"Nothing. Hey, come here for a sec."

She gradually moved closer to the ghost boy and he in turn backed away.

"Ember... whatever you're thinking... have mercy..."

The pop princess then strummed her cords and a fist beam was launched. Danny dodged by swimming out of the way.

"Uh-oh... I better get outta here...!"

The ghost boy flew off and Ember smirked as she pursued.

Sometime later at night, the two were in their guest room sitting in separate beds that were right next to each other. Ember was combing her hair and Danny lied back comfortably with his fingers locked behind his head. The two were dressed in PJs thanks to Danny's power to alter clothes. The ghost girl's PJs were a mix of purple and blue while the ghost boy's were a mix of white and black.

"We had a lot of fun today huh?" asked Danny.

"Yeah," agreed Ember. "But I could have done without you dive bombing me into the pool. Its gonna take forever to fix this."

"Sorry about that."

The rocker rolled her eyes.

"You're only saying that because I went upside your head."

"And because it hurt. But at least I learned something new about you."

"What would that be?"

"Like the army man from the war of my childhood, you also don't like to be played with."

The pop princess giggled before setting the comb down on the nightstand next to her bed. Then she lied back on the pillow. As the room settled into silence, Danny couldn't help but think about something while staring at the ceiling.

"Can I ask you something?"

Ember turned her body to face him.

"Yeah?"

Danny shifted his body so he could face her too.

"Earlier you mentioned that your name was Amber before you died. How exactly did it happen?"

A frown soon shown on Ember's face and Danny noticed her expression.

"Oh uh... nevermind. Forget I..."

"My house caught fire while I was sleeping. Don't know how it started, but I woke up in the Ghost Zone right after it happened."

"So you never tried to figure out?"

"As soon as I came into the living world and before the concert I did a little digging on the web. I couldn't find anything but a bunch of old news articles saying that the fire could have started any number of ways."

"Hm..."

The ghost girl saw the look on his face and could tell something was rattling around in that head of his.

"Danny? What is it?"

"I was thinking that I might be able to help you figure that out someday."

Ember gaped a little.

"You could?"

The ghost boy smiled confidently.

"Yep."

Then the rocker smiled at him.

"Seriously, is there anything you cant do?"

Danny chuckled.

"When I find out, you'll be the first to know."

"I'll hold you to that. Goodnight Danny."

"Goodnight Ember."

The two shut there eyes and not a minute later, they were fast asleep.

The next day on Vlad's football field...

"All right," said Ember with a hand on her hip. "Show me all of your powers."

"All of them?" asked Danny.

"All."

"Why?"

"Maybe by seeing what you can do, I might can come up with a few tricks of my own."

The ghost boy raised a brow with a smile.

"Its the change clothes thing that's got you interested isn't it?"

"Something like that," shrugged Ember.

"Ok. I'll start from the bottom and work my way up."

The white haired teen fired a ghost ray into the sky, turned intangible, phased through the ground, conjured up an ecto shield, manipulated his body to produce a hole in his chest.

He sighed after doing all of that.

"Those were the standard ghost powers. Now for the tricky ones."

Danny concentrated and his robe changed to a Superman-ish style outfit with a long cape and white boots. From there he concentrated some more and he split himself into 2. At this, Ember blinked.

"You can make copies of yourself?"

"Yeah," said Danny 1 followed by Danny 2 explaining, "But I can only make one."

Then the duplicate popped out of existence and the ghost boy's clothes returned to his usual attire.

"That's it?" asked Ember.

"For now."

"For now? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't have access to my core power yet because I'm still too young. But anyway, now its your turn to show me what you can do."

"Ok."

The pop princess performed all the standard ghost powers like Danny did.

"Good," nodded the white haired boy.

Then she conjured up her guitar before firing a skull beam, a ghost fist beam, a love spell, a sound wave, flame beam, a hypnotizing spiral and a ghost bubble. Right after all of that, her guitar vanished and she sighed.

"Besides that stuff, I can extend my hair out to burn things and I can teleport. Not to mention if I can get enough people to chant my name, I can do a bunch of other things too."

"You can teleport?"

Ember smiled proudly.

"Yeah."

"That's... wow. I tried to learn how to do that from Clockwork but its just so hard."

"So there is something you can't do after all?"

"Looks like it."

"Now that we've seen each other's powers, I want you to teach me that wardrobe trick."

"I figured you would."

15 minutes later...

"Erg...!" groaned Ember clenching her fists. "Why isn't it working?!"

"You're supposed to imagine your outfit as a part of your body while manipulating your body to change shape," explained Danny.

"I am doing that."

"Not in synch you're not."

The pop princess blinked.

"Wait what?"

"Its all supposed to happen simultaneously. The concentration and manipulation. Now try it again."

"Ok..."

An hour later...

Danny blinked while blushing.

"What?" questioned Ember after noticing his expression.

The dark cloaked teen looked to the side.

"Your outfit is uh..."

Then the ghost boy pointed and the pop princess shifted her eyes down. All of sudden her face reddened in embarrassment.

"(Please tell me this is not happening?!)"

Danny cleared his throat.

"Need some help?"

"As long as you don't look..."

The white haired ghost held out his hands without looking and Ember placed hers in them. Then Danny concentrated and soon Ember felt that familiar tingling sensation flow through her body. Right after, her outfit glowed green before changing into a solid purple sundress with Danny's trademark logo in flaming blue letters stamped across the front side.

"Its safe to look now," said Ember.

"You sure? Because I don't think I can handle another surprise like that again."

While blushing a deeper shade, Ember's hair flared ominously and the ghost boy felt it getting hot all of a sudden.

"I hope you're not suggesting I would expose myself to you on purpose..." burned the pop princess.

Danny sweatdropped and turned to face her right away. Then he chuckled nervously.

"I was kidding... Sorry."

Ember scowled at him. Immediately, Danny put his hands out before waving them back and forth.

"I mean it! I'm sorry!"

The ghost girl's hair calmed down and her expression became neutral.

"Good."

Danny scratched the side of his head while looking away.

"So... more practice?"

"Yeah."

A couple of hours after that, the two were in the kitchen. Danny sat on top of a counter while Ember cooked.

"You sure you don't need me to do anything?" asked the white haired boy.

"Absolutely," answered the flame haired ghost stirring some red sauce in a pot.

"Why?"

"Because you've been cookin for me ever since you-know-what and I want to pay you back for both."

"What if I told you there was some other way you could pay me back that would even us out?"

"Depends on what you mean by other way."

"You wont like it I'll say that much."

Ember frowned.

"Just hearing you say that makes me not like it."

"Don't worry. It wont take too long and when its over you'll feel better than you do right now."

The pop princess looked his way feeling intrigued.

"Lay it on me."

"I'll let you know when the time comes."

She narrowed her eyes a bit.

"Ok... Now I really don't like it."


	12. Chapter 12

The next day, as Vlad arrived through the front doors and met up with Danny and Ember.

"Welcome home uncle Vlad," greeted the ghost boy with a cheerful smile. "How was your meeting?"

"Less than spirited I would say," replied the billionaire. "Just boring paperwork to sign, borderline standstill negotiations and all that. So how are my favorite nephew and his friend doing? Did you two have fun while I was gone?"

"We're great and yeah we had fun. Right Ember?"

"Yeah," agreed the pop princess.

Vlad blinked.

"Pardon me? But I thought her name was Amber?"

At that moment Ember sweatdropped.

"It is but her name is also Ember," explained Danny casually.

The halfa rubbed his chin in thought as the three walked down a hallway.

"Now that I think about it... wasn't the name of the ghost responsible for your demise also named Ember? Rather Ember Mclain?"

The ghost girl swallowed hoping that the subject of their conversation wouldn't trace back to her. Too bad for her that a certain white haired teen couldn't read thoughts.

"Yeah," confirmed Danny before pointing at Ember with his thumb. "This is her."

Two out of the three of them stopped. The billionaire being one of them glared at the other full of rage and anger. The flame haired ghost being the other sweated profusely in his line of sight.

"You... how dare you...!" growled Vlad.

Ember backed away as Vlad transformed into his dracula looking ghost self and gathered ecto energy into his fists before firing at the ghost girl. Ember was hit and crashed into a display case.

"Ugh!" groaned the rocker toppling to the floor amidst the broken glass and football memorabilia.

"I'll rip you apart molecule by molecule!" stated the billionaire aiming with two hands and firing double ghost rays.

Luckily for Ember, Danny stepped between them and raised an ecto shield.

"Step aside Daniel. I have business with this little she-demon."

"Uncle Vlad," started Danny as he looked his uncle in the eyes from behind the shield. "I'd like it if you stopped what you're doing."

The halfa blinked in confusion.

"What? But don't you want retribution? Isn't that the reason you brought her here?"

"No."

"Then why my boy?"

"Because you need to hear Ember's side of the story."

The ghost boy looked back at the pop princess and smiled.

"Remember what I said in the kitchen?"

After putting 2 and 2 together, the rocker muttered, "I knew I wasn't gonna like this."

A minute or two later they were in a comfortable room sitting down. Vlad sat in a one seater glaring at Ember, while the pop princess and Danny sat next to each other on a sofa.

"I will hear you out only because my nephew asked me to," stated Vlad. "But that is as far as my lenience will extend. So tread lightly... or _else_."

Hesitantly, Ember nodded after getting the threat.

"Ok. The month before Danny was... you know... I came to town in order to take over the whole world."

"So I've heard..."

"I was um... close to the finish line but Danny's parents and his friend stopped me at the concert. Not only that, they caught me in their..."

The pop princess looked to Danny.

"What was that thing anyway?"

"Fenton Thermos," answered the ghost boy.

"Right," said Ember turning to Vlad again. "They caught me in that."

"I am well aware that they captured you," said the halfa sounding impatient. "The specifics of how is irrelevant."

In the next moment, Ember hugged her shoulders before looking away. Danny wrapped an arm around her and whispered, "Its ok. You got this."

The ghost girl inhaled and exhaled sharply.

"After they caught me, I was experimented on and treated like a lab rat..."

Tears nearly came to Ember's eyes and she winced. But she stayed strong and kept them open to stare at the billionaire, whose glare had retracted a bit.

"This lasted for little over a month and would have been longer had Danny not found me. He was the one who set me free."

"Thanks to you influencing him with a spell no doubt," Vlad thrown in.

Ember looked down out the corner of her eyes.

"Actually... he did it because he wanted to."

The billionaire scoffed and rose to his feet.

"You lying shrew! Daniel would never of his own free will release a dangerous ectoplasmic entity!"

"She's not lying," disagreed Danny.

Vlad blinked after focusing on his nephew.

"What? You let her go willingly?"

"I did."

"But why?"

"Because I don't believe anyone deserves to be treated the way Ember did."

After hearing that, the halfa shifted his focus back on Ember.

"Then she repayed your kindness by carving the skin from your flesh followed by dropping off the remains in a box for your mother, father, and sister to see."

The pop princess covered her eyes as her dam burst.

"I'm sorry...! I know I messed up big but by the time Danny found me I was dead set on paying his parents back...! So when I found out that he was their son, I saw my chance and...!"

"Used Daniel as a means to inflict the most damage on the ones who had wronged you," finished Vlad as his face went neutral.

The rocker nodded and her gaze fell to the floor. She couldn't look him in the eye any longer. Ember could barely keep the regret from what she did to Danny in check.

Seeing her display, Vlad turned to his nephew and Danny in return was frowning. The two never uttered a word during this period of silence. Both knew what the other was thinking. Vlad wanted some kind of retribution and Danny just wanted his uncle to forgive the ghost girl sitting next to him. And then the white haired boy mouthed _please_ which made his uncle sigh. After that, Vlad nodded to his nephew and walked over to Ember before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I apologize for behaving hostile towards you. Can you forgive me?"

The ghost girl sniffed, followed by lifting her head.

"Me forgive you? But I'm the one who..."

As she trailed off, the billionaire sent her a half-hearted smile.

"Yes, you may have harmed Daniel, but now I see why you did it. It wasn't because you were some heartless ghost. You simply wanted his parents to suffer in a way that would be comparable to your own. I do not blame you for that. But..."

And then the halfa gave her a threatening stare.

"If you _ever_ repeat such an atrocity against Daniel or any of my loved ones from this moment forward, I will make sure it will be the last thing you ever do in your ecto-existence. Am I understood?"

The ghost girl shakingly nodded before wiping her eyes dry with her forearm.

"Yeah. So... did you know about the stuff I went through when they had me?"

"I only heard that you escaped while under their custody and... killed Daniel. Beyond that, I was completely oblivious."

"That's the reason why I asked you to come with me Ember," said Danny.

The ghost girl shifted her attention to the dark cloaked boy as he continued speaking.

"I wanted you to explain your side of the story."

"You had this planned all along?" asked Ember.

"Yep."

"Since when?"

"Since Clockwork told me to come here. I'm sorry I kept quiet about it until now."

Ember smiled at him.

"Its ok. At least one less person in your family hates me."

"Pardon me for interrupting," started Vlad. "But we could change that dear girl."

Ember and Danny shifted their attention to the billionaire.

"What do you mean?" asked Ember.

"I could invite them here and have them listen to what you just told me."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" questioned Danny. "My parents aren't exactly ghost enthusiasts. And that was before what happened to me."

"I see your point. But maybe if I reveal to them that I have ghost powers then that will help sway them."

The ghost boy blinked.

"You'd do that?"

"For you I would. Besides, isn't it time to lay to rest the tragedy that plagued us all for so long?"

Danny then looked to Ember and asked, "You wanna do this Ember? Because if not then we can just leave things as they are."

The pop princess shook her head.

"No. Your uncle is right. We need to clear the air. Even if they don't forgive me I feel like I have to face them or we'll never be able to move on with our lives."

"Are you sure?"

She let out a sigh.

"As sure as I'll ever be."

Danny looked to Vlad once more.

"Do it. But call my friends too. I'd like for them to be in on this."

Vlad nodded and pulled out his cell.


	13. Chapter 13

Two days later...

Jack Fenton, Maddie Fenton, Jazz Fenton, Samantha Manson, and Tucker Foley stepped out of the limo in front of Vlad's mansion.

"I could get used to first class," smiled Tucker. "That and the limo service."

"Who wouldn't?" said Sam. "The seats are amazingly comfortable and the food is top notch."

Then Vlad opened the doors to his humble abode with wide arms.

"Maddie, Jack, Jazmine, miss Manson and mister Foley." said the billionaire "It is a pleasure to see you all again."

"Hey Vladdie!" smiled Jack in an orange lumberjack shirt and black jeans. The formerly overweight man who was now in shape with well-defined muscles approached his college buddy and slapped him on the back.

"Ow!"

"Whoops! Sorry V-man. Forgot my own strength."

After the pain had subsided, Vlad smiled and said, "Its ok old pal."

The billionaire shifted his attention to Maddie and noticed something different about her.

"Maddie? Do my eyes deceive or are you..."

The Fenton Matriarch smiled as she rubbed her stomach.

"I am."

"How long?"

"Coming up on 3 months."

"That's wonderful. Do you know whether it's a boy or a girl yet?"

"No. But we don't mind either way."

It was in that moment Jazz chimed in, "Speak for yourselves. I want a little sister."

The three laughed along with Sam and Tucker.

"Please come in and make yourselves comfortable in my living quarters," invited Vlad.

The group then followed the billionaire into the mansion. As they walked the halls, Tucker asked, "So you're a cheesehead?"

"Indeed."

"What's a cheesehead?" asked Sam and Jazz.

"Its a fan of the Green Bay Packers," explained Tucker.

The goth girl saw all the green and gold items displayed around the house alongside other autographed memorobillia.

"So do you own the team?" asked the goth girl.

The billionaire sighed.

"I'm afraid I do not."

"Why?" questioned Jazz. "I'm sure a man as rich as you could afford to buy them three times over."

Vlad clenched his fists while his brows furrowed.

"I could buy them five times over actually but the city of Green Bay refuse to sell them to me...!"

After noticing the group was giving him odd looks, Vlad straightened up and chuckled.

"Sorry. I guess that is still a sore spot of mine. But even though I might not own the team, at least I have skybox view of the game whenever I want to go."

"Hey can I go with you sometime?" asked the techno geek. "I never been in a skybox before."

Vlad smiled.

"Why certainly. And that extends to all of you as well."

"I would usually pass up anything related football but I am interested in what it would be like," said Jazz. "Maybe I can write an essay for school."

Sometime later, they were sitting comfortably in a living room. Vlad in his one seater and the rest on two different couches. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz sat on one while Jack and Maddie on the other.

"Are you quite comfortable?" asked Vlad.

"Yes and thank you for inviting us again Vlad," said Maddie.

"Yeah its nice and cozy," agreed Jack.

"So what made you invite us here?" enquired Jazz.

"I was wondering the same thing," admitted Sam.

"The Fentons are one thing but us too?" said Tucker. "I'm still scratching my head on that one."

The billionaire sighed.

"The reason why I gathered you all here is that I wanted to reveal something that I've kept secret for years."

The group blinked.

"What secret?" asked Maddie.

"Yeah Vladdie," said Jack. "You know you don't have to hide anything from us. You're like family."

The cheesehead smiled warmly.

"I appreciate you saying that. But I must inform you that what I'm about to share with you is something that may knock you all for a loop. So do brace yourselves."

The group did just that as the smile left Vlad's face.

"Jack, Maddie. Do you remember the accident in college?"

"You mean the one that gave you Ecto Acne?" recalled the pregnant woman.

"Yes."

"What about it V-Man?" asked the Fenton Patriarch.

"Not only did that incident give me Ecto Acne, but it also gave me ghost powers."

"Huh?" uttered Jazz.

"Ghost powers?" repeated Sam in confusion.

"Is that possible?" questioned Tucker.

"Yes, it is possible." nodded Vlad. "Here, allow me to show you."

The billionaire stood up and his dark morph ring appeared. Then it split before going up and down in opposite directions which transformed Vlad into the dracula looking ghost with pale blue skin.

"Vlad?!" gaped Maddie.

"This is incredible...!" exclaimed Jack. "You're a ghost Vlad!"

Vlad held up a finger.

"Actually the technical term is half ghost or halfa to be more precise."

"But why did you hide this from us Uncle Vlad?" asked Jazz. "We would have understood and accepted you."

"The issue was not a question of acceptance Jazmine. It was more bitterness and blame towards your father which I am ashamed to admit."

The Fenton Patriarch frowned.

"I'm sorry I did this to you Vlad. Had I known..."

Vlad raised a hand.

"No need for an apology dear friend. What's done is done and I have long since put that matter behind me."

Then the billionaire reverted back to his human self.

"Besides, without you I wouldn't have been able to come across my latest discovery."

"What discovery?" asked Maddie.

"Before I reveal that to you all you have to promise to keep an open mind. Can you do that for me?"

"I can," said Tucker.

"Sure," nodded Sam.

"After finding out you have ghost powers, I'm open as a book." admitted Jazz.

"Certainly," agreed Maddie.

"Anything for an old pal." stated Jack.

Vlad turned to face the entrance behind him. Then he cleared his throat and called aloud, "You can come in now."

After a few seconds, a ghost boy with pale blue skin, snow white hair, and glowing green eyes walked into the room from the entrance Vlad was facing. The teen wore a red and white t-shirt, light blue jeans, and red and white sneakers. As soon as the group saw him they gaped in shock. The halfa in the room turned back to others.

"Say hello to..."

"What in the...?!" started Jack.

"He looks just like our...!?" followed Maddie.

"A-am I-I d-dreaming!?" questioned Jazz.

"I-I-I...!?" stuttered Sam.

Tucker took off his glasses and wiped the lenses on his shirt.

"I must be seeing things because that ghost looks just like Danny!"

The ghost boy waved at the group with a half-hearted smile.

"Hey mom, dad, Jazz, Sam, Tucker. Its nice to see you again."

Then the group looked to Vlad as if they wanted answers and he picked up on their expressions.

"I know this may have come as a shock to you all and I'm guessing that this is hard to believe but this is in fact Daniel."

"So you're saying that this is our boy?!" pointed Jack to Danny.

"That he's some ghost?!" questioned Maddie feeling insulted. "Like the one who took him from us?!"

"Yes," answered Vlad.

"Why should we believe that?!" growled the man in the orange lumber jack shirt.

"Our boy would never turn into a malevolent spook!" rejected the pregnant woman.

"Not all ghosts are malevolent Maddie," said the billionaire.

"Says you!" interjected the goth girl.

"The one who took Danny from us killed him without a second thought!" argued the techno geek.

In the next moment, Danny fired a ghost rays upward blasting a hole in the ceiling. This stopped the conversation/arguement from escalating.

"Do I have all of your attention?" asked the ghost boy in the room looking at them one at a time. When satisfied that he did, Danny continued with, "Good. Now, if you don't believe I'm Danny then there is one way for me to convince you. Ask me any question that only the real Danny Fenton would know the answer to."

The group exchanged looks and it seemed like they agreed nonverbally with the ghost boy's idea.

"Ok..." started Tucker after almost a minute of silence. "Who was my first girlfriend?"

"You never had a girlfriend," answered Danny. "At least not before I died anyway."

The techno geek hummed in thought; though made no indication that he was convinced.

"If you are the real Danny..." Sam began next. "Then what grade was I in when I first became a goth?"

"Officially, seventh grade." said the ghost boy. "Unofficially, the fifth."

The goth girl said nothing to give away if he was right or not. Though her hands bawled into fists.

"What item have I always held onto since I was a little girl?" asked Jazz seeming hopeful in a way.

"Bearbert Einstein."

The Fenton daughter frowned a little and did her best to keep a poker face.

"When was the last time _my_ son and I went on a road trip?" asked Jack with folded arms.

The teen ghost scratched the side of his head.

"I don't remember the exact year but I remember we got lost. It was great that we did though because we went to that carnival and filled up on lots of junk. Although, now that I think about it, you told me not to tell mom about that."

The Fenton Matriarch turned to her husband and glared.

"You said that Danny had motion sickness from riding in the R.V for too long!"

Jack displayed an embarrassed grin.

"Sorry honey."

And that's when the group blinked. But more importantly Jazz stood up and ran to Danny before hugging him tight. She cried as she did.

"So you are my little brother...! I missed you so much...!"

Danny hugged her back with a smile.

"I missed you too."

Then the rest got up and followed Jazz's example.

"I'm sorry for doubting you son," apologized Jack shedding a tear or two.

"Sorry for doubting you sweety...!" Maddie cried a river.

"Its ok," said Danny. "I figured you guys would be skeptical."

And that's when the group let go to see their loved one for what he truely was.

"I'm having a hard time believing it but its really you," admitted Sam happy.

"Same here," agreed Tucker. "The hair and the smurf skin is really throwing me off dude."

The ghost boy chuckled.

"I know what you mean. It took me a week to get used to it."

"So what's it like being a ghost?" asked Jazz.

The white haired boy looked up in thought for a second.

"It feels the same as being alive," said Danny. "Except for the ghost powers, not having to go school, and not getting sick."

"What I can't figure out is how did Vladdie find you," said Jack turning to his friend for answers.

"That's simple really," started Vlad. "I have a ghost portal of my own."

"You do?" questioned Maddie with a raised brow.

"Yes. I had one for years alongside my own lab."

"So you didn't give up ghost research after college?" asked Jack.

"I may not have been as enthusiastic about ghosts as you Jack and Maddie, but I do find them interesting to say the least."

"Speaking of ghosts, did you come across the ghost who hurt Danny?" asked Sam.

Vlad then looked Danny's way and the ghost boy knew what he had to do next.

"We did."

The group focused on Danny as he made his way to the entrance he came in from and went out.

"Where's he going?" asked Tucker.

"You'll see in a moment," was all the billionaire said.

Seconds pass and Danny returned. But not alone. Next to him was the flame haired ghost girl who was holding her arms while looking down out the corner of her eyes. Jack, Maddie, Sam, and Tucker gasped in shock before glaring at the pop princess.

"Ember Mclain...!" hissed Sam.

"What's she doing here!" demanded Tucker

"You little...!" started Jack grinding his teeth.

"The she-demon who butchered my son!" stated Maddie.

Ember flinched at the pregnant mother's words. Danny however whispered something indestinguishable to the pop princess and she nodded.

Jazz noticed the exchange between the two before asking, "Um... Danny? Mind telling us what's going on? And why you're with the person who took you from us?"

"This is going to sound crazy but I want you guys to hear what she has to say," said the white haired teen.

Crazy was putting it mildly. This was pure and utter disbelief to the ghost boy's loved ones.

"Does she have you under mind control again!?" questioned Sam while glaring daggers.

"Seriously dude!?" agreed Tucker. "What gives!?"

"No, I'm not under mind control." responded Danny. "And before you think that that's not true, ghosts can't hypnotize other ghosts unless they are really weak compared to them. Ask uncle Vlad."

The group looked to Vlad confirmation and he said, "What the boy says is true. At best she could influence humans in her current state. But if she tries that, then Danny and I will stop her."

Then the group focused on Danny again followed by Ember. Albeit they glared at her. Except for Jazz who was more curious than angry.

"Well?" said Jack impatiently.

"What do you have to say?" asked Maddie folding her arms.

Ember looked at Danny and he nodded. The ghost girl sighed before shifting her focus to the group.

"I know you're not going to believe this but I'm sorry..." apologized Ember in almost a whisper.

"Sorry?!" repeated Jack in disbelief and anger.

"You think that by apologizing that everything will be sugar and rainbows?!" questioned Maddie.

The ghost girl tightened the grip on her arms.

"You killed him!" reminded Sam.

"And sent him back gift wrapped without his skin!" added Tucker.

Ember winced as her eyes shut tight.

"You've got some nerve!" rounded the man in orange.

"Is this some kind of sick game to you?!" vehemently asked Maddie.

"No," answered Ember. "I would never..."

"Yeah right!" cut off the goth girl. "And I'm sure it wasn't a game when you had a mob of students attack a teacher at my school either!"

The pop princess opened her pleading eyes in Sam's direction.

"I did that but..."

"Why should we believe you after all this time?!" threw in Tucker.

"Because I'm really..."

"Sorry?!" butted in Jack. "You bet you are! A sorry excuse for a spectral being!"

"How can you even live with yourself after hurting an innocent...!"

And that was when the guitar cord snapped. Ember's hair flared dramatically with tears flooding out of her eyes. The group went silent and swallowed while sweatdropping.

"I GET IT! I'M A SACK OF CRAP WHO DOESN'T DESERVE TO EXIST BECAUSE I TOOK DANNY'S LIFE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME BECAUSE I TELL MYSELF THE SAME THING EVERYDAY SINCE IT HAPPENED! EVEN AFTER HE FORGAVE ME, I WANT TO CRAWL IN A HOLE AND PUT MYSELF OUT OF MY MISERY!"

The group was astonished by Ember's words. Though she wasn't done yet.

"I KNOW THAT SAYING SORRY WON'T FIX WHAT I DID BUT AT LEAST I'M WILLING TO ADMIT THAT I DID SOMETHING HORRIBLE!"

And then Ember shifted her gaze specifically on the two former ghost researchers and pointed.

"YOU TWO TORTURED ME FOR OVER A MONTH IN THAT STUPID LAB OF YOURS! YOU CUT ME WITH SCAPELS, GAVE ME DRINKS THAT MADE ME PUKE MY GUTS OUT NON-STOP, TESTED YOUR WEAPONS ON ME, AND YOU INJECTED ME WITH SOMETHING THAT MADE MY HAIR FALL OUT PLUS MADE ME FEEL SICK AS A CANCER PATIENT! AND TO ADD TO ALL THAT, WHEN I BEGGED FOR YOU TO STOP, YOU FLAT OUT IGNORED ME! SO IF ANY OF YOU THINK THAT I'M THE ONLY MONSTER IN THIS STORY, YOU ARE DEAD WRONG!"

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz looked to the Fentons with a gaped mouth.

"Is... that true?" asked Jazz.

"Did you do all of that to Ember?" frowned Sam.

"For over a month?" enquired Tucker.

Jack and Maddie looked down in shame.

"We thought that ghosts couldn't feel anything..." admitted Jack.

"And that they could mimic human emotions but not have them..." confessed Maddie.

"So we dismissed her pleading as acting and..."

"Ignored her."

Right after that explanation Sam, Tucker, and Jazz looked to Ember who seemed to be sobbing in Danny's arms.

"I'm sorry...!" apologized Ember. "I'm so sorry Danny...!"

"Don't worry about that anymore," Danny said softly while rubbing her back gently which helped her calm down a bit. Seeing this made the three come over and hug the ghost girl too.

"Huh?"

After a few seconds the three let her go. Then the pop princess stared at the them feeling confused.

"Why did you...?"

"Because you needed it," said Jazz smiling along with the others.

"You're not mad at me?"

"We were," said Sam. "But not anymore."

"But I hurt Danny..."

"We didn't realize that you were just as much a victim as Danny," said Tucker.

Then Jack and Maddie came over with faces full of regret.

"We're sorry ghost girl," apologized the man in orange.

"We would never have put you through all that if we knew better," said the Fenton matriarch.

And then the two parents said together, "Can you ever forgive us?"

Ember wiped her eyes dry with a forearm and nodded.

"Yeah... I forgive you. But don't you still hate me for taking Danny away from you?"

"We are upset about it I admit," said Jack.

"But the fault is not entirely on you," acknowledged Maddie. "We're just as responsible. So no. We don't hate you."

After that, happiness filled Ember's undead heart and she cried out of joy. Never before since her first time arriving in the Ghost Zone had she felt such relief and happiness.

About an hour later, everyone was talking amongst themselves about a variety of things. While this went on Vlad brought in snacks and tea for them to enjoy.

"So mom," started Danny. "What are you gonna name the baby?"

"We were thinking about naming the baby after you if its a boy," answered Maddie. "Is that alright?"

While munching on a cookie, he answered, "Yeah. But what if it's a girl?"

"I don't know yet."

"How about Danielle or Dani with an 'i'?" suggested Ember.

"That's actually a wonderful idea...! Thank you Ember."

The ghost girl picked up a cookie off the tray on the table in front of her.

"Oh um... you're welcome."

Then she bit into a cookie.

"So are you two a couple?" asked Jazz out of nowhere.

Danny and Ember nearly choked on their cookies.

"I'll take that as a yes," smiled the Fenton daughter folding her arms.

"No," denied Danny as soon as he could talk. "We're not a couple."

"We're just friends," added Ember.

"Oh yeah?" questioned Jazz.

"Yeah," said the two ghosts together.

"Then why are you two blushing?"

Embarrassed but not wanting to dignify that with a response, the two ghosts remained silent while trying to avoid looking at each other.

"Hey Danny," called Sam standing up.

Danny focused on his goth friend.

"Yeah Sam?"

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute? It'll be quick."

The ghost boy nodded before standing up. After that, the two made their way out the room. When they stopped a little ways down the hall, Danny asked, "What is it?"

The goth girl rubbed her shoulder while looking away.

"I um... wanted to ask you about something, but never had a chance to because of what happened."

He waited for the girl to continue and she did.

"Did you... have feelings for me?"

The ghost boy blushed and he looked to the side while scratching his head.

"I uh... yeah I did. And you?"

The goth girl blushed.

"I um... had feelings for you too."

Mildly surprised, Danny shifted his gaze to her.

"You did?"

"Yeah."

"And now?"

"Sorry, but... it took me a while to let you go and when I did, I sorta put those feelings behind me. Not that I don't care about you or anything."

"That's understandable because I feel the same way too. Once I got used to being a ghost, I let my past go along with my feelings for you."

"I wish we could have seen where things went if we did date."

"I do too. Even if it was to one of those nasty vegetarian restaraunts."

The goth girl placed her hands on her hips and gave him a mild glare.

"They're not nasty."

"Says you. They literally serve grass on a plate. What am I, a cow?"

"Ok, so maybe everyone can't handle the delights of an ultra-recyclable vegetarian. But I bet it beats ghost food."

"Actually, ghosts can eat pretty much anything."

"What? Really?"

"Yep."

"Then you don't mind trying out..."

The ghost boy folded his arms and held his head high with closed eyes.

"Not in my afterlife."

After a few seconds, Sam smiled.

"I missed this. Talking to you I mean."

Danny opened his eyes and brought his head down to smile in return.

"I did too. With you and Tucker."

Right after, they hugged one another. While this was going on, Sam said, "I'm glad I got a second chance to tell you how I felt. I regret not telling you sooner."

"Tell me about it. But at least this is better than having things left unsaid."

The two parted.

"Ready to go back in there?"

Danny nodded and the two entered the room again.

"Don't get me wrong, ghosts can be malevolent when we want to be," explained Ember. "Its just that sometimes we get upset and feel like taking it out on the world. Although, there are a few who are downright douchebags for no reason at all. Those are the ones you need to look out for."

"We'll keep that in mind," said Maddie as Danny sat down next to Ember and Sam joined Tucker and Jazz.

"What we miss?" asked the goth girl.

"Nothing much," said Jazz. "Ember was explaining how ghosts are in terms of personality and a moral conscious."

"Did you bring up how dumb some can be?" questioned Danny to Ember.

"Not yet," responded the ghost girl.

"Good. Cause that topic is all mine."

Right after saying that, Danny told them the story about how the Box Ghost keeps going through natural portals and end up stuck in random places. The group laughed when he brought up how the overall wearing ghost got captured by a pteradactyle.

Meanwhile at Clockwork's Tower...

The master of time was staring at Danny and his loved ones through a time window. But he wasn't the only ghost in there.

"It looks like everything is in order," said Clockwork turning to face the other ghost. "I thank you for your assistance over the past few months my former protege."

"Anything for you boss," smiled the Box Ghost turning to face Clockwork. "Besides, I never get tired of putting on the old 'wander through the pop-up portal because I don't know any better' routine. The young ones never have a clue that it was staged all along."

The two chuckled.

"But alas, I must go and get back to my real occupation."

"Before you go, did you handle the arrangements for...?"

The Box Ghost nodded.

"Already taken care of as you have requested."

"Again, thank you for your assistance."

"You are most certainly welcome. Goodbye."

With that, the Box Ghost floated away towards the exit.


	14. Chapter 14

Days later, everyone decided that it was time to go home. But they were in higher spirits than when they first arrived.

"Bye Mr. Masters," waved saved Sam and Tucker from the limo. "Bye Danny. Bye Ember."

Ember saluted with two fingers nonchalantly.

"Goodbye uncle Vlad and you two lovebirds," beamed Jazz in the direction of the two ghosts who blushed.

"Bye sweety," said Maddie looking at her son.

"See ya son," said Jack as he tossed a suitcase into the trunk. "When we get home, I'll be sure to start up the portal again so you can visit the house whenever you want. Maybe we'll even visit you too once I finish the Specter Speeder."

"Sounds good dad!" replied the ghost boy.

"Goodbye," waved Vlad. "I'll be sure to call every now then."

After that, everyone packed into the limo and the vehicle pulled off.

"That was rather enjoyable," commented the billionaire before turning to face the two ghosts. "Are you two sticking around for a little while more?"

"Actually," started Danny. "We were thinking that its time for us to head back home too."

"Not only that but we have friends who're probably worried sick about us," added Ember.

"Very well," accepted Vlad. "Come back whenever you feel the need. My door is always open."

Danny and Ember nodded before turning intangible before flying off into the house to the lab and through the ghost portal.

"That was pretty fun," remarked the ghost boy.

"Yeah," agreed the pop princess. "I'm glad I came with you. Thanks for inviting me by the way."

She flew closer to Danny and pecked him on the cheek which made him blush.

"W-what was that for?" stammered Danny.

The ghost girl smiled at him.

"Everything you've done for me."

"Oh uh... you're welcome."

"So... you gonna lose those threads or what?"

Danny's blush had deepened a shade.

"W-what?"

"You said you were only wearing that getup so your parents would recognize you better. Are you keeping them from now on?"

The white haired teen looked at his attire and caught on.

"Oh... right."

After a bit of concentration, Danny's clothes changed back to the dark cloak with the black body suit and white gloves.

"That's better."

"I'm a little surprised you were able to pull that off without stopping."

"Once you've done it a million times, it becomes easy as firing a ghost ray."

And then Danny frowned.

"What is it?" asked Ember noticing the look on his face.

"I'd hate to do this to you, but I gotta go check in with Clockwork."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I promised that I would as soon as I got back."

"Oh... well ok. See you later I guess."

"You too."

The two separated and flew in different directions.

"(He promised that he would so I can't get mad at him for bailing on me.)" thought the ghost girl after a few seconds.

"Hey Ember!" called a voice from behind.

The rocker looked back before coming to a stop. Upon seeing the white haired teen, her brows raised in confusion.

"Danny?"

"I almost forgot something," said Danny before closing the distance between them and pecking her on the cheek causing the girl to blush.

"W-what was that for?"

The ghost boy smiled.

"You did that to me a few times. There's no way I was gonna let that slide again without some 'payback' of my own."

With that said, he flew off. Ember placed a hand on top of the spot where he pecked her and smiled.

Sometime later, the white haired teen had arrived to the top floor of Clockwork's tower.

"Welcome back Daniel," greeted Clockwork as Danny closed the distance. "How was your getaway?"

"It went better than I thought it would," answered the ghost boy. "Thanks for that by the way."

"You are most certainly welcome."

The purple cloaked ghost then raised a brow.

"Is that purple lipstick on your cheek?"

The white haired teen blinked and traced a finger on the spot where Ember kissed him. Right after, he saw purple on his fingertip. Then he scratched the side of his head while looking away.

"Oh uh... about that..."

Clockwork smirked.

"No need to explain yourself my former protege. There is no shame in your game."

The white haired teen blushed. After a few seconds, his brain clicked once processing what his guardian had said.

"Wait..." started the teen turning Clockwork again. "Did you just say former?"

"Indeed I did," confirmed the time ghost with his smirk vanishing.

"Why?"

Clockwork turned into his child nature.

"I have mentored you for some time and have helped heal the wounds that vexed you. Now it is time for you to live in your own realm."

"My own realm? Are you saying that I no longer live here; that you're kicking me out?"

"I would not phrase it as kicking out. More like pushing the baby bird out of the nest so that it could fly on its own. Nevertheless, after a new ghost has been mentored for as long as need be, that individual will have to stay in a realm of his/her own. Its one of the oldest traditions of the ghost community."

"Oh... well can I stop by from time to time? Not to stay of course."

"That is fine."

"So... where is my new realm?"

"You must create it wherever you so choose. But remember, once you do, you cannot create another unless you destroy that one first."

"And how am I supposed to create it?"

Clockwork smirked again.

"I believe a friend of yours can show you how to do that. One with purple lipstick I might add."

Danny blushed at the mention of purple lipstick.

At a park in the Ghost Zone...

"Where have you been Em?" asked Kitty sounding a little worried.

"We tried calling you but our calls wouldn't go through," added Spectra.

"We searched the GZ from top to every whichway lookin for you," dramatically emphasized Youngblood dressed like Sherlock Holmes while holding a magnifying glass.

"So what's the deal?" questioned Johnny. "Did you drop off the face of the Ghost Zone?"

"You can call off the search party," Ember with hands placed on her hips. "I went to the human world."

The group gasped.

"How?" asked the girl with fishnet stockings. "You didn't take a pop-up portal did you? Because those things are dangerous and unpredictable."

"No," answered the flame haired girl looking away; silently hoping that they would drop the subject.

Spectra analyzed Ember's behavior and a smirk crept on her face.

"Let me guess... Cutie pie right?"

The rocker shifted uncomfortably.

"I knew it! He is Superman!"

"Huh?" started Johnny raising both brows. "The kid can teleport in and out of the Ghost Zone?"

"No, his uncle has a ghost portal." corrected Ember.

"Really?!" a stunned Youngblood uttered. "Then how come he never said anything about it before?! We could'a been having lots of fun out there instead staying around this dump the whole time!"

"He didn't know his uncle had a ghost portal until recently. Plus, I don't think they talked a whole lot since he kicked the bucket either."

"Oh."

"So you were with him at his uncle's place the whole time?" asked the green haired girl.

"Yeah."

"What did you two do?"

"Hung out, watched a few movies, ate some food, swam in the swimming pool, talked to his family... That kind of stuff."

"You talked with the kid's family?" blinked the greasy haired ghost.

"Yeah."

"About what?"

Ember looked away while folding her arms.

"Em?" said Kitty.

"I... we talked about how he died and other stuff."

"Well look at you getting to meet the family," teased the red head. "You're just one step from tying the spooky knot aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Come now Emmy. All you've done lately is spend time with cutie pie. One can only draw up one conclusion as to why that is."

"There's nothing going on between us Spectra."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely."

"So there's no holding hands, kissing, or intimacy of any kind?"

The pop princess went silent as a thought flashed through her mind. It didn't last long but Spectra and the others could tell there was something roaming around in that undead brain of hers.

"I knew it! Something did happen! Tell us all about it sister!"

Ember blushed and said defensively, "It wasn't that big of a deal ok?! Its not like we meant anything romantic by it!"

"Even more interesting! What did you two do exactly?"

The ghost rocker looked away trying to not melt in embarrassment.

"I um... pecked him on the cheek for helping me get through my funk and he sorta pecked me back..."

"Way to go Em," praised Kitty. "I'm so proud of you."

The flame haired ghost faced her green haired friend that was beaming in excitement alongside Spectra.

"W-what?! N-no! There's nothing to be proud of!"

"Yes there is. We have proof that Danny is into you now."

"What proof?"

"You said it yourself. Danny pecked you back on the cheek."

"So?"

"Unlike you, he didn't have a reason to do that. Not unless he like-likes you."

The musician looked down at her feet deep in thought.

"(No... that couldn't be it... could it? I mean... he did say that it was payback. But does that mean he...?)"

In the next second, someone landed nearby.

"Hey guys," greeted Danny.

Ember blinked out of thought upon hearing the ghost teen's voice.

"Hi Danny," smiled Kitty.

"How's it hangin kid?" asked Johnny.

"Danny Phantom's in the house," said Youngblood. "Or should I say park? Whatever."

"Speak of the cutie-pie devil," remarked Spectra giving the white haired ghost a coy smile.

The white haired teen raised an eyebrow in Spectra's direction.

"What?"

"We were talking about how much we all missed you and Emmy."

"Oh yeah that. Sorry if I made you all worry about us."

Kitty dismissed his apology with a hand gesture.

"That's ok. As long as you two had fun with each other then that's all that matters. Right?"

Danny scratched the side of his head while looking away.

"So Phantom," began Youngblood. "I hear your uncle has a Ghost Portal."

"He does," confirmed the white haired teen.

"Does he mind if we use it to go to the living world?"

"As long as you don't cause him any trouble or anything I don't think he would."

The small ghost fist pumped.

"Sweet!"

Then Danny shifted his focus to Ember.

"Hey can I ask you something?"

The flame haired ghost seemed a little surprised.

"Sure. What is it?"

"I sort of moved out of Clockwork's place and I have no clue about creating a realm of my own. Think you could...?"

"Show you the ropes?"

"If you don't mind."

The pop princess smiled.

"Lucky for you I don't."

The white haired boy smiled back.

"Thanks."

After silently watching the exchange, Spectra suggested, "Why don't you save yourself some trouble and move in with Emmy?"

Danny and Ember blushed as they looked away from each other.

"Spectra!" glared Kitty.

"What? I was just throwing it out there."

The green haired girl turned to Danny.

"Pay her no attention. Just go before she says something else."

Taking their friend's advice, Danny and Ember flew off. Right after, Kitty faced Spectra.

"How do you expect Danny to move in with her when they haven't went on a date yet? They're not even boyfriend and girlfriend."

"All that matters is that they have fun and fool around," stated the red head. "No need to put boring old labels on it."

"And if one of them gets hurt?"

"Break up and move on. Simple."

"Break ups are complicated Penny," pointed out Johnny.

"Then adding that on top of a roommate situation will flip things out of wack" said Youngblood.

"Which is why they have us," said Spectra with pep while taking a few steps forward. "We'll help pick up the pieces and put them both back together. I'll handle cutie pie and you three can have Emmy. Everything will work out for the best. Isn't that a great plan or what?"

Johnny 13, Kitty, and Youngblood narrowed their eyes at their red headed friend.


	15. Chapter 15

Meanwhile with Ember and Danny flying through the endless expanse of the Ghost Zone.

"So where do you wanna set up shop?" asked the pop princess.

"You mean where I want my realm to be?" said the ghost blue skinned teen.

"Yeah."

The ghost boy rubbed gripped his chin in thought.

"Somewhere where there's not a lot of people. Also, a place with a cool climate."

"I think you might wanna stay on the northern parts of the Ghost Zone then. Most ghosts I know don't usually go that far up unless they have business or something. And its a lot cooler there too than where I stay."

"Then the north it is."

Time skipping ahead about 20 minutes later, the two were up north in an open space. The ghost boy inhaled and exhaled with a smile as the cool wind tickled his skin.

"Now this is what I'm talking about. Don't you think so?"

The ghost boy looked to his friend and saw her shivering.

"Ember? You ok?"

"A-a l-little c-cold..." shivered the pop princess rubbing her shoulders.

Danny flew up to her and carefully took hold of her hands. After concentrating, Ember's attire changed to a snug purple coat, black pants, and purple snow boots.

"Thanks," smiled the flame haired girl in appreciation.

"No problem. But I gotta ask. Do you hate the cold or something?"

"Its not just me, but most fire cores can't stand it."

"I didn't know that."

"A lot of ghosts don't. But its not a big deal as long as we're dressed for the occassion like I am now."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"Next time what?"

"Next time we go on vacation."

The flame haired diva gave him a questioning look.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you like hanging around me."

"Hypothetical scenario. Let's say I don't. How would that make you feel?"

"As long as we're talkin hypotheticals then I'd feel like using my hypothetical guitar to go upside your hypothetical head."

The ghost boy smiled.

"Its a good thing I like hanging around you."

Ember smiled back as the two hovered there in the open air of the Ghost Zone. A few seconds pass before Danny glanced down and noticed that he was still holding Ember's hands.

"Oh uh..." stammered the white haired teen quickly letting go and looking away. "Sorry."

"Its um... cool," brushed off Ember a little embarrassed herself and stuffing her hands into the pockets of her coat. "So are you ready to get started?"

"Yeah. What do I do first?"

"First you choose which way you wanna go."

"Which way?" repeated Danny confused.

"There are two directions you can take when making a pad. The easy way or the hard way."

"What's the easy way?"

"The easy way is doing what most ghosts do; creating a pocket dimension and doorway leading into it. Once that's done just go inside and you'll have a fixed setting like an apartment, snowy landscape, or dark abyss to live in. Depends on what you're comfortable with."

"And the hard way?"

"The hard way involves creating a structure like a castle or tower. Although, I wouldn't recommend that option because it takes longer and can be annoying. Its the last thing you'll wanna deal with to be honest."

The ghost boy scratched the side of his head and smiled sheepishly.

Ember noticed his behavior and frowned.

"You want the hard way, don't you?"

"Uh... Sorry?"

After a few seconds, the pop princess smiled and said low unintentionally, "You're lucky you're cute."

The white haired teen blinked not catching what she said.

"What was that?"

"Oh um... before we start, what kind of place do you want anyway?"

"Hm... I was thinking maybe something like a space station. Probably like the one the Justice League has but a little smaller."

"Space station? Why would you want a pad like that?"

Danny looked away before answering with, "I have my reasons."

"Reasons like what?"

"They're... not important."

"They must be if that's what you want."

"I'm telling you its not..."

The ghost girl folded her arms with an unyielding countenance.

"Danny... out with it."

Danny sighed in resignation before expounding, "I wanted to become an astronaut... when I was alive."

After hearing that, Ember looked down out the corner of her eyes with a frown.

"Oh... So I killed your dream too...

Immediately, the white haired teen said, "Don't blame yourself for that."

"Why not? Its true."

"That's not the point."

Then she looked him in the eyes.

"The point is I killed you."

"I mean that lots of people want to become astronauts and wind up doing something else."

"You could have been one of the lucky ones but I..."

"Said you were sorry."

"Yeah but..."

"You also promised to change and not do anything like that ever again."

"I did but..."

"You're helping me make my dream come true in a way that's better than if I was alive."

"I am?" blinked Ember slightly surprised.

"Yep. I'm getting a space station as a home. Who else could say that?"

She smiled.

"Well... since you put it that way, I guess I can stop being a downer."

"That's the spirit. Uh... no pun intended."

"I wouldn't get too excited yet. First, we've gotta gather up a bunch of ectoplasm."

"Why?"

"Because that's what your pad will be created out of."

"So how much are we talking about? A dozen gallons?"

"I'd say at least 100."

"100?!" sweatdropped Danny.

"Or 2. Maybe somewhere inbetween...? I don't know. But to be on the safe side I'd say 100."

"Ok... We'll start with 100. But how are we supposed to collect that much with our bare hands?"

"See why ghosts keep it simple and do the pocket dimension thing? Its not too late to change your mind."

The ghost boy folded his arms and began to think hard for a solution. However, his concentration was interrupted by...

"Salutations!" greeted a familiar voice.

The pair shifted their focus to the approaching Box Ghost who had almost a dozen glowing packages floating over his head. He also wore a fluffy brown coat. Danny and Ember lifted a hand and waved.

"What are you doing way out here?" asked Danny.

"Hey Box Ghost," said Ember.

"I am delivering some packages as requested by recent employers," explained the ghost in overalls. "What are you two doing in this frigid area of the Ghost Zone?"

"Building my home," answered the white haired teen.

"Oooh! That is fantastic news! Once you are done I will be sure to find you a realm-warming gift."

The ghost boy rubbed the back of his neck.

"You might want to hold off on that for a while."

"What do you mean?"

"We ran into a roadblock on how to gather a lot of ectoplasm."

"So you plan on creating a solid structure as opposed to a dimension?"

"Yeah."

"I may be able to assist you with your problem."

Danny blinked.

"You can?"

Box Ghost smiled confidently.

"I can indeed."

Ember raised a questioning brow.

"You have something that will help us gather 100 gallons of ectoplasm?"

"Once I am done with my current business, I will come back and you shall see.

"Ok..."

"We'll be waiting Box Ghost," said Danny.

The Box Ghost nodded before flying off to handle his business.


	16. Chapter 16

Waiting for the Box Ghost to return, Ember was busy tuning her guitar while Danny practiced duplicating himself. The ghost boy was able to create one copy of himself at best. However, when he tried to exceed that limit both him and his duplicate sprouted an extra head.

Danny sighed as his duplicate popped out of existence and his extra head disappeared.

"Still no progress?" Ember asked after turning his way.

"Its like trying to fold a small piece of paper that's been folded 10 times already. Every time I try to do more its next to impossible."

"Don't worry about it. You'll get it eventually."

He turned to face her.

"Got a lot of faith in me huh?"

"That and I saw what you can do. For a newbie ghost you've got some skills."

"One of those skills isn't teleportation."

"True, but you're the first ghost I know that can copy himself."

"I am?"

"Yeah. Its a rare power that I've only heard of by ear before you came into the fold. Teleportation on the otherhand is more common."

At that bit Danny felt special in a way and so he smiled.

"I guess I should be grateful for what I can do. But I am curious. I know Clockwork can teleport anywhere he wants throughout all time. What about you?"

"I can teleport straight back to my place whenever I want without much concentration. And maybe short distances if I focused hard enough on the spot. Although, in both cases it would drain me like a battery."

"Can you take other people with you?"

"Can't."

"What about other ghosts who can teleport?"

"The same rules apply regarding the energy drain. But I think if a ghost has a lot of power and is really good at maintaining their focus then they could teleport with someone else."

"I have returned!"

The two friends turned and found the Box Ghost closing the distance between them with a glowing box floating over his head.

"Ready to help us?" asked Danny.

"I am," nodded the Box Ghost.

"Great. What do you have that can help solve our problem?"

The overall wearing ghost pointed up.

"See this container suspended over my person?"

"Yeah."

"That little thing will help us gather 100 gallons of ectoplasm?" questioned Ember.

"No, but it will do something even better thanks to one of my extraordinary abilities!" boasted the Box Ghost.

Danny and Ember exchanged skeptical looks for a brief moment.

"Uh-huh..." the flame haired ghost skeptically uttered.

"And what is this 'extraordinary' ability?" asked the white haired teen.

The Box Ghost pointed to some nearby green ectoplasm floating around.

"Retrieve a bit of that goo and I will show you."

"Ok..."

Still doubting, the ghost boy floated off to the goo and used a hand to grab a handful of the radiating green substance before returning. Right after, the Box Ghost brought the box floating over his head down into his hands and opened the lid.

"Put it inside."

The white haired teen nodded and did as commanded. Once he had, the Box Ghost closed the lid and focused his power into the box.

After a few seconds, the overall wearing ghost smirked and said, "I have done it! Your ectoplasm problem is now solved!"

"What?" Ember furrowed an eyebrow or two.

"It is?" blinked Danny.

The Box Ghost removed the lid from the box with a smirk. Once he had, massive amounts of ectoplasm shot up into the air like lava bursting out of a volcano.

The pair gaped.

"Sell my guitar..."

"This is not what I was expecting..."

"Hahaha!" laughed the overall wearing ghost. "Witness the secret power of the Box Ghost! The ability to multiply box contents at will!"

Once Danny and Ember were able to accept what had happened before their eyes, the ghost girl looked to the teen boy and said, "Time to get to work."

Danny nodded before asking, "So how do I use this stuff exactly?"

"First, you imagine what your place is gonna look like. Do you have a general idea?"

The ghost boy thought silently for a few seconds before saying, "Now I do."

"Good. Focus your ghost powers into your hands."

Danny did as instructed and his hands were wrapped with green energy.

"Here comes the hard part. I want you to project that power through the ectoplasm while keeping your pad in mind."

"I'll try."

After stretching out his hands, the green glow surrounding them shot forth and made contact with the ectoplasm coming out of Box Ghost's box(redundant I know). Once it had, the goo began to reshape itself slowly but surely. Danny was completely surprised.

"(Its actually changing...!)"

Then all of a sudden the goo's shape had become undone.

"What's going on? Why did it stop changing?"

"You lost focus," answered Ember.

Danny turned his head.

"I did?"

"Yep."

"How? I'm still focusing my power."

"Not that. You're supposed to not stop visualizing your pad."

Then the Box Ghost added, "In order for your realm to be completed, your thoughts must not waver until the process is finished."

"So let me get this straight," began Danny. "I cant stop picturing the space station, not even for a second?"

"Pretty much," nodded Ember.

"Exactly," agreed the overall wearing ghost. "For if you do, you will have to start from the beginning."

"Ok... Now that I know where I messed up, I'll make sure not to get distracted."

But that was easier said than done. For the ghost boy would soon find out how hard it was to _not_ be distracted. After almost an hour, the white haired teen groaned in frustration.

"Uuuugh..."

"Not as easy as you thought it would be huh?" mildly teased the flame haired girl.

"I had a feeling it would be difficult to a certain extent but this is a whole other level. Everytime I try to remain focused, some stupid _Ooh_ or _Aah_ noise comes out of nowhere and messes with the picture in my head. And on top of that, the process is taking too long."

"It is said that time and sound coupled together are next to impossible to overcome," sagely commented the Box Ghost. "Too bad there is nothing we can do to eliminate them as a factor."

At that remark from the ghost in overalls, Ember began to think. After a few seconds an idea came to mind.

"I don't know about time, but sound and I are thick as thieves. Looks like I'll have to cash in on one it's secrets."

Danny shifted his focus to the pop princess.

"What do you mean by that?"

She smiled confidently as her ponytail began to swirl around her being.

"You'll see when I get back."

Before he could question her any further, Ember disappeared. Danny turned to the Box Ghost and asked, "Any idea what she's talking about?"

The Box Ghost shrugged.

Meanwhile on the lower floor of Ember's realm, the flame haired girl appeared in front of the door.

"Now to get what I came for."

She then proceeded to fly towards the stairs and up to the top floor. Once there, she headed for the music studio.

Several minutes pass before Ember came out the door to her realm with earcovering headphones in hand.

"Note to self. Clean my studio when I get the chance..."

As soon as she was about to fly off after closing the entrance, a voice called out to her.

"Ember!"

The ghost girl turned and saw someone she was not expecting to see.

"Skulker?" said Ember with a raised brow.

"Hello Ember," Skulker returned putting on a smile after closing the distance.

"What do you want?"

"I was wondering if we could talk."

"You caught me at a bad time. I have plans and was about to head out."

"Well, why don't I join you and we'll talk on the way?"

At that moment, Ember felt insipid and she frowned a bit. The hunter noticed.

"What? Is that a bad idea?"

After weighing her options, the flame haired girl said after folding her arms, "I guess I could hold off on leaving for a bit. What do you wanna talk about?"

Pleased by her decision, the hunter began with, "Remember our last conversation during the Christmas Party?"

The ghost girl looked off to the side.

"I do..."

Skulker rubbed the back of his neck.

"At the time you were guilt-stricken concerning what we had done. So much so, you were in no shape to discuss where we would proceed in terms of our relationship. For that reason I thought it best to keep my distance and give you time to alleviate your troubles. However, today I thought it best to stop by and check on your progress."

The mechanical ghost gave her a once over with his eyes.

"But now that I see that you are in better condition than last we saw one another I was wondering if maybe we could..."

Ember finished for him.

"Get back together?"

"Yes."

The pop princess looked down out the corner of her eyes.

"I don't know Skulker."

"You don't know?" asked the hunter raising a brow. "Are you still vexed?"

"Not as much as before but..."

"But what?"

She remained silent thinking about someone else. It fact it was a ghost boy with pale blue skin, snow white hair, and a smile that could brighten any ghost girl's afterlife.

While in the middle of her thoughts, Skulker gently grasped Ember's hands in his, which startled the pop princess out of her thoughts.

"Do not allow that event to impede our relationship. After all, those humans had what was coming to them for torturing you."

"But that's the thing," frowned Ember. "That human boy didn't torture me. He set me free and we... I killed him."

"Perhaps we should have done things differently," reflected Skulker after retracting his hands. "Maybe if we had went after the ones directly responsible for your suffering, our relationship might not have ended."

The pop princess thought of the alternative. Her capturing Maddie and Jack Fenton followed by calling up Skulker to do his 'art' business. Afterward, she wouldn't have bothered to stuff their remains in a box. More than likely, Ember would have toasted them until they were nothing but a pile ashes. The musician knew she wouldn't have felt bad about doing it. Well not at first. Thinking on it now, she had a feeling she would come to regret that decision too. Because the boy who had saved her would have suffered the loss of his parents. And it wouldn't be just him. His sister, friends and uncle would be devastated as well. The latter would probably have planned to attack the Ghost Zone like Danny had aforementioned to her. And she would hate to be the cause for the suffering of millions of ghosts because of her stupid(justified maybe) desire for revenge.

"Maybe," Ember somberly replied. "It's hard to say."

The two fell silent for a while until Skulker decided to speak.

"I should go. And I believe you said something about having plans and heading out yourself...?"

"...I did."

"I want you to know something before I go."

"Wha...?!" started Ember but was interrupted by the hunter's mouth pressing firmly against her own. Not only that but he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in close so that their bodies were pressed against one another. The musician was astonished by his actions.

After nearly 10 seconds, Skulker pulled his mouth away and looked deep within her eyes before stating with firm conviction, "In the time we're apart you are all that I think about. No amount of hunting can fill the void that you left in my undead heart. If the cost to win you back is to cast all of my possessions into the abyss I will gladly pay it. Never forget that I refuse to give up on what we had and I wont cease until you are mine once more. Remember that."

After jetpacks activated from his backside, Skulker flew away leaving Ember stunned and blushing profusely. It took her almost a minute to regain her focus. When she had, the ghost girl also flew off; with the latest event fresh in her mind.

Little did she know, an eagle happened to be watching while perched atop a floating rock. It stretched its wings with a cry before soaring off into the spooky unknown.


	17. Chapter 17

An hour or two later, that eagle happened upon a black door located in a dark corner of the Ghost Zone all by itself with a cracked red heart displayed on it's surface hidden. After landing its talons on the stone surface beneath its feet, the flying creature transformed into a short man with grey hair and a bushy mustache. He wore a dark formal jacket, grey pants, red vest, and a dark bow tie around his neck. As he stepped up to the door, he straightened out his tie and smoothed out his mustache. Then he knocked on the door three times. No noise came from the other side of it.

After a few seconds, the small man said, "It's me so you can stop pretending you're not home."

Like the phrase was somehow the equivalent to 'Open Sesame', the door creaked open. Once it had, the man with the bushy mustache laid eyes on the figure before him. It was a shadow, rather a shade-type ghost with spooky red eyes, tall dark spiky hair, and a ever swaying tail. It also had purple lipstick coated around its lips and its figure was slender like a woman's build.

"Thanks for the compliment," smiled the shade woman showing her unnaturally sharp milk white teeth.

"Uh... you're welcome?" said the author not expecting a certain wall to be broken in this story.

"If you're done playing nice with the author..." interrupted the small impatient man making his way inside past the woman. "I have the latest digest."

"You better go," advised the shade. "Before Bertrand throws a hissy fit and changes his mind."

"Short temper, am I right?" joked the author.

"Haha! Good one."

"I'm waiting!" yelled the small man standing not too far behind the shade.

"All right, I'm coming." responded the shade ghost closing the door shut, then making her way past large fishtanks with predator-like ghost fish inside and following behind her guest.

After, she made it to a staircase and walked... er floated downstairs to a larger area with sophisticated furniture, a large flatscreen TV mounted on a wall, and a large bookshelf covering the entire east wall. Did I also mention that there were large shark-like ghosts swimming around in the floor? Because there were large undead predators moving about in the floor. And last but not least, the area had dim lighting.

The small man had crossed his arms after jumping up and setting himself down on a long couch. He looked annoyed.

"I know you were talking about me..." sourly stated the bushy mustached man.

"Like you don't talk about me with your Underzone circles," casually dismissed the shade.

"That's different."

"How so?"

"I don't do it when you're around."

"Point taken. Now what do you have for me?"

"First, Walker and company managed to track down that plant ghost they were after."

"Undergrowth?"

"The one and the same."

"How did that go?"

"Let's just say at least half of his subordinates are pushing up after-daisies. Also, the warden will have to try and pluck that thorn out of his side another day."

"Figures. He managed to catch Vortex by dumb luck."

"If it wasn't for the fact that Vortex froze Technus' realm while on one of his rampages, the ranting scientist wouldn't have had a reason to invent that barometer thing in an act of payback."

"And then Walker bought it from him after seeing how useful it was in dealing with weather brain."

"Yep."

"Enough about that. What else do you have?"

The short man hummed before continuing.

"I heard a rumor that some weird buzzing doohickeys were moving about in various parts of the Ghost Zone."

The shade raised a brow.

"What?"

"I said..."

"I know what you said. Is it true?"

"Not sure."

"Why not?"

"Because everytime I go to check it out they're never there. For all I know, someone could be pulling a prank."

The shade folded her arms.

"Fine. We'll bench this matter for now. Anything else?"

Then the short man went on to divulge other interesting events that were transpiring. From illegal smuggling activities to the sudden shift in power in some middle aged kingdom. All of which Spectra didn't bat eye about.

When it was time to reveal the last piece of news however, a smirk formed on the small man's face.

"Well," he began with a slight pause. "This last bit of intel you will find most... interesting."

The woman's brow perked out in curiousity.

"In what way?"

"While making my rounds, I spotted Skulker heading in a particular direction he doesn't often travel. At least... not since before Christmas."

Understanding the implications of Bertrand's words, the shade beamed, "Oh goodie! Please tell me he caught the two...!"

"He didn't. In fact, I don't think the boy was there."

"What? But you said..."

"I wasn't finished. Although the kid was gone, that didn't stop Ember and Skulker from locking lips with one another for almost 10 Mississippis."

"That is interesting!" the pointy haired ghost exclaimed. "Ember sneaking around with her ex while Phantom is nowhere in sight! It reaks of a disaster waiting to happen!"

"I figured you'd like that bit."

"I could use this to my advantage. In fact, I could speed up the process if I were to nudge tin butt two in the right direction. Bertrand, for now I want you to keep an eye on Emmy and Cutie Pie. Everything else is on the backburner for now."

"That'll make my job much easier. Traveling all over the Ghost Zone is tiresome."

The small man hopped down onto his feet and was about to make his way to the stairs until the shade blocked his path. Bertrand looked up and saw hunger in the features of the shade's face as she licked her lips. He gave her a flat look.

"Must you?"

"I haven't had anything in a while so I'll just have to settle for what's available."

He rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"Fine... Just make it quick."

Not too long after that, Penelope Spectra landed in front of a cabin situated at the far end of a floating island. As she stepped up to the 'unwelcome' mat in front of the door, she smoothed her business suit and checked her features with a small pocket mirror which she flipped shut when she felt that she was at her best. After knocking gently a couple of times on the wooden door, the entrance barrier came open inwardly to the left.

Once it had, the owner thereof roughly asked, "What do you want Penelope?"

"Skulker," smiled the red head to the mechanical ghost. "Always the charmer I see."

"Hmph."

Spectra picked up on his 'get to the point or get lost' huff and giggled as if he said something amusing.

"Don't be so sour. After all, that's what prey does. And elite hunters like ourselves are above such miniscule tendencies. Am I right?"

The hunter stared at her seriously for a few seconds before his metal mouth formed a smirk.

"You're not wrong."

"See? Doesn't that feel better? Now invite me in so we can talk hunter to hunter."

"Fine. But it better not be about anything cute," said Skulker before stepping to the side followed by the red head stepping a high heel or two inside his abode.

Sometime later in the state of Wisconsin, inside the mansion owned by Vlad Masters, the billionaire stumbled about in his lab while clutching his head with both hands.

"No... I won't! You can't make me...!"

He crashed into a machine and his facial expression showed confidence alongside a smirk.

"Of course I can. I'm you remember?"

The cheesehead fell to his knees with clenched fists.

"I don't care! This is my body! Not yours!"

A dark morph ring appeared around Vlad's waist.

"Be that as may, you have been surpressing your true nature for a while now and I think its time for it to resurface."

The billionaire rose from the floor to float in the air. Then his morph ring split in half followed by going up and down in opposite directions thus transforming Vlad Masters into his ghost like nature.

"Ah," sighed the dracula looking ghost in relief. "You know... you may actually be right. I have missed this."

His red eyes gleamed a menacing bright red as he directed his eyes to the monitor on the wall to his left.

"Computer, has any of my probes narrowed down the location of any unique ghost items?"

"Affirmative," responded a computerized female's voice that sounded eerily similar to Maddie Fenton's before the monitor displayed a blinking dot amidst many yellow vertical and horizontal lines on top of a green canvass."

"Excellent. Transfer the location to my Plasmiwatch."

When Vlad's wrist device beeped, he turned and walked towards the ghost portal. After closing the distance, the billionaire hopped into it and flew off. About 30 minutes later, the halfa came across a sleeping behemoth of a ghost. It had four arms with threatening claws, razor sharp teeth, red fur, and a long tail that curled around a rectangular prism glass case.

"So this is where it was hiding," observed Vlad. "This beast must have been guarding it. But no matter, I'll just sneak up and phase my hand though the glass."

Quietly, the halfa proceeded to do as planned. Once he was hovering over the glass case, he made his hand go intangible before attempting to grab what was inside it. To his surprise the glass surrounded itself with glowing green energy that shocked Vlad's hand.

"Ow!" cried the halfa pulling his hand back. "What in Bart Starr's name...!"

But before he could finish that statement, the behemoth cut him off with a monstrous roar. The billionaire turned his head to the left to see the monster glaring at him in fury. And then it used its oversized hand to smack him away.

"AGH!"

After flying away about nearly 50 yards, Vlad managed to recover from the blow.

"Grr... I was hoping to avoid getting my hands dirty but if that's what you want then so be it."

The dracula looking ghost clenched his fists and they glowed with purple energy. Then the behemoth flew towards him at full speed and attempted a claw slash. Unfortunately for the creature, Vlad popped out of existence a second prior to being hit. Before the red furred monster could locate him, the billionaire appeared at the creature's midsection and landed a powerful uppercut, thus sending the behemoth flying high. As it ascended, Vlad concentrated and created 3 duplicates. Once he had, the copies channeled their energy and used it to lasso the creature into place as the original Vlad motioned towards its tail.

"Sorry, but this is checkmate."

The halfa grabbed the container and pulled it away from the beast's tail. Once the creature realized that its property was about to be taken away, it opened its mouth and fired a huge wave of purple fire. On reaction, the billionaire created what appeared to be a mirror shield out of his palm and the attack bypassed around Vlad instead of burning him to a crisp.

"Dull creature. You just don't know when to give up."

The billionaire's duplicates all at once channeled a severe shock to the behemoth through the ecto binds and the monster cried out with a terrifying shriek as a result. Vlad smiled in satisfaction.

"See? Checkmate."

Once it had passed out, the three duplicates undid their binds and the behemoth fell into the depths of the Ghost Zone. Following that, the duplicates merged with Vlad and the billionaire directed his focus to the glass casing.

"Now, where was I? Oh yes. I remember."

Vlad attempted to smash a glowing fist against the object in his hand but glowing green energy surrounded the case like before and halted his action with shock.

"Gah!" His hand retracted as he grimaced. "Confounded case...! It must be enchanted or something. Looks like I have to take it back to my lab and run some tests."

With that said, the billionaire flew off.


	18. Chapter 18

Back in the Northern parts of the Ghost Zone, Danny tilted his head to side in confusion as he observed his... home? I mean it looked like the Space Station he had in mind and it was definitely the size he originally had pictured. Only it wasn't solid or even composed of metal for that matter.

"Uh... did I do something wrong?" asked Danny.

"You didn't," said the Box Ghost.

"Then why does it look like that?"

"Like freshly coated paint on a wooden house, your dwelling will take some time to set in. When that is complete you will have your Space Station of a home in all its glory."

"So it will turn from this into the real thing eventually?"

"Absolutely."

"And how long is this gonna take?"

"Guessing by the size I'd say about half a day; give or take a few hours or so."

"Half a day?! But I spent hours working on it..."

"See why I said it was long and annoying?" pointed out Ember.

"Well now that you no longer require additional ectoplasm, I believe this is the time for me to say farewell," said the overalls wearing ghost.

Danny turned to face him with a half-hearted smile and said, "Thanks for the help Box Ghost."

"You're welcome. Goodbye."

He waved at the pair and they in turn returned the gesture before he flew off.

"Since we can't do anything else here, wanna take off?" asked the pop princess.

"Sure," nodded the ghost boy.

Then he eyed his future home with concern.

"Uh... is it ok to leave it unprotected?"

"Don't worry about it. It's safe."

"You sure? Cause I don't want anybody trying to mess it up or anything."

"Yeah," reaffirmed the musician. "Its kind of prehistoric law to not mess with another ghost's pad. Especially, when one is in the stage that it's in now."

After hearing that bit of reassurance, Danny felt his worries fade away. Then the white haired teen flew off with Ember following not too far behind.

About a minute into traveling, Danny dropped suddenly to his own surprise which made the ghost girl swoop down and catch him with arms wrapped tight around his chest.

Once she had, she asked, "Need a hand? Or in this case two?"

"Thanks. I didn't think I was too drained to not make the trip back."

"Speaking of the trip back, want me to drop you off at Clockhead's or do you wanna chill with me at my place?"

"Well you cant do A so I'll take option B."

The ghost girl blinked.

"Huh? Why can't I do option A?"

"Clockwork kicked me out earlier so I can't go back there. At least not to stay anyway."

"Hold up. I thought you said you moved out?"

"I said 'sort of' moved out."

The ghost girl rolled her eyes.

"Ok... why did he kick you out?"

"He said something about a baby bird being pushed out the nest so it could fly and some old ghost community tradition. Either way, it was not what I was expecting when I got back."

With a flat look Ember commented, "Figures. Pandora did the same thing to me when she thought it was time for me to get the boot too."

The white haired teen raised both brows.

"You lived with Pandora?"

"Yeah."

"What was that like? From the way Clockwork described her short temper, I can only imagine that wasn't easy."

"Got that right. The whole time I stayed with her I couldn't play music as loud as I wanted to and she always made me work in her stupid maze of a garden every day. Not only that but she gave me a 9'oclock curfew. And if I complained about any of it or broke any of her stupid rules, she shot fireblasts at me until she felt like I learned my lesson."

The ghost boy winced picturing the tall Acropolian bearing down on Ember with insurmountable rage.

"Ouch... you have my sympathy."

"Thanks."

"Also, were you good at it? The garden work I mean."

"Ever notice the plants around my place?"

The ghost boy thought about it.

"Now that you mention it. How come you never told me you had a secret talent?"

"Slipped my mind," shrugged Ember. "What kind of chores did you do at Clockhead's pad?"

"Dusting and replacing old gears on clocks mostly. And you already know about the missions I went on."

"Saving the Box Ghost from non-threatening disasters. I gotcha."

And then the two fell silent for a few seconds before Ember decided to say something else.

"You can crash at my place tonight if you want."

"You don't mind?"

The pop princess smiled before saying, "Not as long as you're cooking."

Now it was the ghost boy's turn to smile.

"I knew there was a catch."

"Its only fair. I caught you."

And that's when they both laughed.

Hours later at Vlad Master's abode, the billionaire in his human guise advanced down the halls in frustration while musing to himself.

"I spent hours trying to breakthough the infernal protection of that case with no luck. Every piece of equipment that I have at my disposal has sadly been rendered to of no effect. What should I do?"

Rubbing his chin in thought, the cheesehead contemplated his issue. Crossing the threshold into his private study, Vlad approached a tall shelf full of both ancient and/or valuable books the man had collected over the years. Once standing directly in front of them, he raised a finger to trace along a few of their spines.

"Let's see. It should be right... there."

He removed an aged green and purple book that looked like it has been around long before Vlad's time on Earth. Following that, he strolled over to his comfy one seater and flipped the book open. Turning a page or thirty while scanning each one briefly, Vlad eventually happened upon a section he thought might help him in his cause.

"Oh hello," he smiled. "It says here that there are two particular ways to remove protective spells and curses. One, have the original caster undo it."

Vlad's brows furrowed.

"Can't do that because I don't know who it is. And even if I did, they would probably be unwilling to get rid of the enchantment."

His eyes went on to the second option.

"Blood blossom purification ritual huh? Well I could acquire those but it would take a while. In order for me to get them I would need to wait for a blood moon to occur first. And who knows how long that will be?"

Not willing to accept that those were the only ways to solve his dilemma, the billionaire flipped through a number pages until he happened upon one which seemed to catch his eye.

"Ah yes. I remember this little tid bit. Very few things can rival it's might. Although... would that work on something like an enchanted case?"

Then Vlad yawned with a hand covering his mouth. Following that, he shifted his eyes down to the Plasmiwatch strapped to his wrist.

"A few minutes past 10? My, it is almost time for bed. Better put this on hold until tomorrow."

After closing the book shut, the cheesehead stood up and returned it to the shelf. Once that was accomplished, he left the area to turn in for the night.

Sometime later, at Ember's place around the time when the two had decided to go to bed, Danny motioned towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" asked the ghost girl.

Danny stopped and looked over his shoulder at Ember sitting comfortably in her purple pj's on the bed indian style.

"I was gonna sleep downstairs," answered the white haired teen.

"You don't wanna share the bed again?"

The ghost boy smiled with a raised brow.

"Scared of having another nightmare or do you like the smell of my feet that much?"

Folding her arms, the pop princess responded with a humph, "Neither."

"Then we don't have to share the bed. Goodnight Ember."

And then her mood turned into a feeling of dejection with a frown on her face.

"Goodnight Danny..."

Then he left for the stairs. After he was gone, the pop princess fell back onto her pillow and rolled over with a sigh as she closed her eyes. A few seconds after, Ember felt the bed's matress shift a bit and her eyes popped open.

When she rolled over in the other direction, she saw a pair of pale blue feet first followed by the rest of Danny's backside.

"I thought you were sleeping downstairs?"

"What can I say?" shrugged the white haired teen. "I'm scared of having another nightmare."

The pop princess smiled.

At least until the boy continued to say, "I was hoping the smell of your feet will drive it away again like all the other times."

Ember glared before pinching the back of his heel.

"Ow!" cried Danny flinching. "I was joking, geez that hurt...!"

The flame haired girl rolled over to face away from him, but had a content smile as she let her eyes close for the final time that night.


	19. Chapter 19

Early morning at the Fenton household, after Jazz had left for school, Jack Fenton with a cup of freshly brewed coffee in hand smiled proudly staring at the inactive but reassembled Ghost Portal before him.

"Ever since the incident with that ghost girl I never thought I'd fiddle with the Fenton Portal again." Jack mused to himself. "I can't believe its been so long. Almost feels like reuniting with a friend I haven't seen in over 10 years."

"I know what you mean," said a woman's voice from behind which prompted the man in the orange jumpsuit to turn around and see Maddie approach in her custom designed pregnancy blue jumpsuit.

As soon as she closed the distance, Jack wrapped an arm around her. Then they took in the sight of the Ghost Portal together while smiling.

"The thought of continuing with our research after Danny died was unthinkable."

"At least now we know that our boy is ok living as ghost. Not only that, we'll be able to see him again once I turn this thing on. And its all thanks to Vladdie."

"Speaking of turning the portal on, before you do, how about installing a ghost detection system so we know when a ghost comes through?"

"Already ahead of you honey," said Jack pointing upwards with his coffee mug which the pregnant mother followed with her eyes. At first glance, one might have assumed it was ordinary lightbulb. But to Maddie Fenton it was a lightbulb with the letter 'F' on it. Which meant that there was more to it than meets the eye.

Maddie shifted her gaze to the confident smiling man with raised a brow and had begun to ask, "You installed the...?"

"Yep. The Ecto-Detecto. I found it in the shed when I was looking for screws and bolts."

"But I thought it didn't work."

"I did too until I figured out what was wrong with it."

"And what was the problem?"

The man coughed out in embarrassment.

"Well... as it turns out, I forgot to uh... insert the internal battery when I put it together last time..."

"That's funny. I think I remember you assuring me that you made sure that nothing was left out and no piece missing."

Jack shrugged uneasily.

"I guess I was in a hurry when I told you that...? I don't know. But anyway, that's the past and now is the present."

"Be that as it may I want to do a follow up check. We wouldn't want any hiccups in case something awful happens."

The same dark thought crossed their minds. They didn't need to utter it aloud because having lived through the horror once was enough to make both parents more self-aware of the consequences of one's mistakes.

With a grim expression, Jack said, "Good idea honey. After all, you're more metticulous than I am." Then he yawned. "Besides, staying up all night took something out of me and I don't have energy to do it myself. Well anyway, I'm gonna get some shuteye. Goodnight er... morning sweety."

After smooching her on the cheek, Jack left the lab.

Sometime after that, inside the Ghost Zone at a realm that was reminiscent to a kingdom of the middle ages, a young ghost of a man with a pointed chin, red eyes, pale blue skin, long dark silvery gray hair, and sharp fang like teeth made his way into the courtyard. Once he had, he spotted a fair young woman on her knees by a flower bed located in the center of the area. She had light green skin, red eyes, long blonde hair which is gathered into a French braid. Also, she wore a two-toned light blue princess-style dress with long sleeves and a green band around the waist, light blue flats on her feet, purple lipstick, a blue headband, and a amulet made of pure gold around her neck.

"Dorathea," the man called with an unfriendly countenance as he strode towards her.

The young woman known as Dorathea looked over her shoulder with a frown and perhaps a tear or two draping down her undead cheeks. As the man closed the distance between them, she turned her head forward to stare at the flowers once more.

"What are you doing here? You should be by my side as a show of good faith that the kingdom is in capable hands."

"I apologize but I was paying my respects Aragon," answered Dorathea with a sniff.

He raised a brow.

"Tomfoolery? Of course you realize it will accomplish nothing? Moreover, he is not worthy of anyone's prayers."

"Even so he was our father."

"That excrement of a draco was not our father! Most certainly not mine!" hissed Aragon as his pupils turned to slits and steam issued out of his nostrils. "(A Father would know better than to treat his firstborn like the scum of the earth!)"

Dorathea said nothing in response to his statement knowing full-well it would do no good to one such as him. She learned that long ago when they were but younglings. Whenever her brother had differences of opinions regarding certain subjects, such as their father for example, Aragon's anger would boil to the point where he would be a danger to those within his proximity(Including inanimate objects and concrete surroundings). Mainly due to the inherited power of their lineage. Their mother of course would often reprove him for such outbursts. Which kept his quick-temper somewhat in check for many years to come. However, when she had "moved on", the duty of reprover fell solely to their father. He of course was much harsher than his late wife(who merely gave him a verbal tongue lashing in addition to subservient chores).

A cat of nine-tails to the back would be Aragon's newfound punishment.

It took some time before the man with the pointed chin calmed down. Once he had, his eyes reverted back to normal.

"Do what you will Dorathea, but don't be forever with this foolishness," Aragon said followed by walking away in an angry stride. No doubt the topic of his recently passed 'not-father' irritating him to his core causing the pressure of the blood in his ghostly veins to build somewhat.

The maiden looked up into the gloomy sky and locked fingers together before engaging iacquireof er.

"Oh Father, I wish you preeminent joy in the great mystery beyond that of the ecto-life. Please greet Mother with a harmonious kiss and give her a loving hug on behalf of me and Aragon. I know he and you did not have the best of relationships while you were present with us but please find it in your heart to watch over him as he guides our kindom into the future; just as our noble ancestors always have throughout the centuries during your reign. Rest well and be comforted."

In the next moment a concentration of energy descended from the sky and hit the ground before Aragon. The force of the impact was enough to send him flying back into the flower bed.

"Ugh!" groaned the ruler.

"Aragon?!" exclaimed Dorathea with widened eyes. And then she heard a chuckle from above. Right away, the maiden rose to her feet and looked up into the sky. Spotting the outline of the figure of a ghost with a standing U-shaped hairdo and a high collar cape that had a white exterior in addition to red interior lining she asked, "W-who are you?"

"Me?" the dracula-looking ghost smirked with glowing purple fists. "I am the bane of your after-existence. Call me Plasmius."

And then he fired an ecto blast at her. Dora raised her guard at the last second but was struck by the attack.

"Agh!" she cried.

Aragon quickly recovered and rose to his feet as he drew his sword.

"I don't know who you are, but you will pay for your actions!"

Leaping off the ground, he soared into the air. When the ruler had closed the distance, he swung his sword diagonally with both hands. But his adversary was quick and dodged the attempt.

"Oh please," yawned Vlad. "That butterknife couldn't cut a wet paper towel."

And so when Aragon tried to run the billionaire through, Vlad vanished at the last possible moment with a fading cackle.

Down on the ground, Dorathea picked herself up with a groan. After coming to her feet, she gazed upward to find Aragon looking around the sky for any signs of the dracula-looking ghost. And so did she.

"Behind you," a voice whispered in her ear.

Dorathea froze before feeling a hand clasp onto her shoulder. Following that, electricity coursed through her being.

"AAAGH!"

As soon as he heard it, Aragon quickly shifted his gaze downwards.

"(There!)"

The maiden collapsed to the ground and Vlad set his sights back on the other.

"I have to say I was expecting much more of a fight," remarked the dracula-looking ghost stepping across the girl and taking a few steps forward. "Perhaps the kingdom has been left in unsuited hands?"

That did it for Aragon and his temper flared.

"You have the gall to question MY position upon the throne!? I will have your head skewered on a spike!"

Eyes drastically changing to slits, skin shifting to that of harden black scales, and a tongue forking while stretching out to mimic that of a snake's, Aragon was in the process of undergoing a transformation into that of a mythical creature. His size increased as a set of wings sprouted from the trapezius area of his backside.

Once his metamorphosis was completed, Aragon bellowed an incandescent roar and exuded fire from his mouth in Vlad's direction. Vlad narrowed his eyes slightly in tandem with the broadening smile on his face as he summoned an prism glass case from the shroud of his cape and chucked it into the inferno rage. The protective enchantment activated immediately before the flames engulfed the entire thing.

However, Aragon's fire proved more than a match for the spooky defense mechanism and soon the protective enchantment faded followed by the glass encasing exploding. A lone skeleton key fell to the ground before Vlad's feet and he soon picked it up.

"That was easier than I had anticipated," the halfa remarked observing his new treasure.

"ROOOAR!" the dragon landed and smacked Vlad with his spiked tail.

"UGH!" exclaimed the billionaire dropping the key and crashing hard into a stone wall not too far away.

It took him a second or two to shake off the hit he should have saw coming. If only he had payed better attention instead of being distracted by the key. Speaking of which, he checked his palm and found it missing.

"Where did it go?!"

Pulling himself out of the indent in the wall, his eyes quickly scanned about possible locations where the key could have fell. Right away, Vlad spotted it a foot or two in front of the angry dragon.

"(Before I try to recover the key I have to take care of him first...)"

And so the halfa's fists glowed with raw ecto energy as he smirked.

"(This will be a snap.)"

He advanced several steps forward and heard a terrifying roar. A roar that did not come from the black and purple dragon before him.

Shifting his head to the side, Vlad caught sight of a different dragon. It had two toned blue skin, two green horns, a set of wings, and a green spine.

Before the halfa could bounce back from the shock of the sight of a second mythical flying lizard, he was struck by the powerful wave of green fire the creature exuded.

"GAAAH!" Vlad cried being blasted and almost nearly nearly toasted by the insatiable heat. Crashing through several walls, he landed in the moat outside of the kingdom's walls with a heavy splash.

The blue and black dragons wasted no time trying to track him down. Outside the castle walls they looked everywhere minus beneath the surface of the swamp green water. Determining that he was no longer there(or probably faded from the Zone), the dragons returned to the courtyard. Once there, the two regressed to humanoid form in the likeness of Aragon and Dorathea.

"Are you...?" started the maiden approaching her brother only for him to stop her cold in her tracks with a chastening glare.

"WHO TOLD YOU TO INTERFERE!?" Aragon shouted.

She flinched.

"I-I was only trying to help..."

"ARE YOU SAYING YOUR KING IS NOT CAPABLE OF HANDLING ONE MISCREANT?!"

"N-n-never your highness. I just thought..."

"THOUGHT?! IT IS NOT YOUR PLACE TO THINK! UNLESS I COMMAND YOU TO DO SOMETHING, YOU HOLD YOUR TONGUE AND KNOW YOUR PLACE! WITHAL, IT IS BECAUSE OF YOU THINKING THAT HE MANAGED TO ESCAPE!"

"I-I'm sorry," apologized Dorathea getting down on her knees and bowing with her head to the ground. "Please forgive me."

With one last puff from his nostrils, Aragon turned away from his sister.

"From this day forward you shall wait on me hand and foot as a servant. Come."

Astonished, the maiden picked her head with widened eyes as he marched away. Once the news had fully sunk in, she rose to her feet and began to follow him. But not before stepping on something.

"Hm?"

Lifting a foot, she noticed an errie looking key.

After picking it up, she considered looking it over for a few seconds, but her brother called.

"DORATHEA! PICK UP YOUR FEET!"

"Coming!" she replied quickly slipping the key into a pocket followed by hurrying after Aragon.

A minute or two later after that, Vlad pulled himself up onto dry land and coughed several times while in his human form. Once both his feet were clear out of the water, he rolled over onto his back and frowned. His face was bruised severly as was the rest of his body. Though his human attire was soaked, otherwise it was unmarred.

"That could have gone better..."


	20. Chapter 20

Danny floated outside of the door to Ember's realm before turning around to face the entrance.

"You sure you don't want to come?" asked Danny.

"I'm good," Ember replied. "Besides, this is your realm we're talking about. You need to have some alone time with it."

"Can't argue with that. Still, you going to swing by later on?"

"You know it babypop."

Hearing the confirmation and the nickname made the ghost boy smile before taking off.

Once he was gone and clear out of sight, the fire haired girl floated outside and closed the door.

"(Now that he's out of the picture, I can do what I planned on doing,)" Ember thought before flying off in a different direction.

Then from atop a floating rock, an eagle transformed into Bertrand and the bushy mustached man pulled out his cell phone before calling someone.

"Yep. The two are on the move just like you planned."

Meanwhile on the other end, Spectra replied, "Great. I knew she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to score some points with cutie pie by getting him a gift when I recommended it this morning over the phone. Now go on and keep an eye on her for me. (Not that four is needed, but one can never be too careful.)"

The red head ended the call there before checking her looks in the pocket mirror one last time. Once snapping the thing shut and putting it away, she flew off into the green skies of the Ghost Zone.

Almost five minutes later, Clockwork was staring into his time windows like normal (for him anyway). At a certain moment, two eyeball headed ghosts in ceremonious robes appeared at the entrance to the area.

The time master addressed them without turning as they approached his designated position.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from the Observants? Perhaps an overdue thank you for sending my former protege to help aid in the safe transfer of Vortex to your jurisdiction?"

"We have not come for that reason Clockwork," Observant 1 replied.

"Of course. Be it far from your lofty kind to express any semblance of appreciation."

"You know why we are here," Observant 2 stated.

Clockwork aged into an old ghost as he turned to face the pair.

"I'm already dealing with the matter. Forsooth, since before you became aware of it."

"And the boy?" eyeball ghost 1 questioned.

"Will you do what must be done?" followed eyeball ghost 2.

After his form had altered into that of a young child-like ghost, the master of time shifted to monitor a particular time window with a sharp gaze. In it, a being wearing a cape that had soul piercing red eyes, and a DP symbol on the chest region of his outfit had his hand gripping the neck of a flame haired ghost girl. Also, roaring flames could be seen dancing wildly in the background. At last he remarked, "Doing that is not seemly."

"The entire Ghost Zone is at stake."

"Not to mention this will unnaturally spill over into the human world given enough time."

"Neglect the founding principles this once for the sake of the future."

"Do what must be done."

Clockwork closed his eyes in thought as he took in a breath and exhaled before considering. After a few seconds had passed, he opened his eyes and said, "When there is no other option, I will act. But not beforehand. We wouldn't want to snuff him out prematurely."

Then he glanced back over his shoulder with a resolved stare.

"Would we?"

The two eyeball headed ghosts exchanged looks with one another before nodding in agreement.

"Very well," said Observant 1.

"We will be watching," conveyed Observant 2.

Clockwork aged into his adult form and shifted his head to look at the time window again.

"As am I."

With that, the time master's guests floated away towards the exit and out.

Meanwhile, Danny was halfway to his Space Station of a home when from out of nowhere he heard someone call out to him.

"Yoohoo!"

The white haired teen blinked before looking to his left. Fast approaching was none other than Penelope Spectra herself.

Danny came to a stop followed by the red head closing the distance between them.

"Spectra?" uttered the ghost boy confused.

"Hey Cutie Pie," she said smiling. "I was hoping to catch up to you out here."

Danny scratched the side of his head while looking away.

"You were?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to have a little look at this new realm of yours."

"You do?"

"Of course," beamed the red head moving next to him and hooking an arm around his; much to the ghost boy's surprise. "I find almost everything about you interesting. So why not your new home too?"

Feeling a little awkward, Danny responded, "Oh uh... I don't think..."

"You don't think what?" Spectra blinked before letting go and moving directly in front of him with a pouty frown. "Are you saying I'm not welcome at your place?"

"What? No, its not that I..."

"Its ok Cutie Pie. I get it."

Then Penny sighed as she folded her arms and looked down while expressing a handdog countenance.

"I can imagine whatever Kitty told you at the Christmas Party painted an unscrupulous picture of me in your mind."

At the mention of said subject, Danny recalled the event.

"Well uh..."

"You don't have to explain a thing," continued the red head smiling half-heartedly. "I'll make this easier on you and we'll act like this never happened k? Bye."

As she flew away slowly in the direction she came from, guilt swelled in the ghost teen's core.

Then he turned and called, "Spectra."

She stopped with her back facing him but smirked all the while.

"Yes?"

"You're welcome to come with me to my place."

The red head turned to face him with her expression conveying that of tentativeness.

"Are you sure? Because I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Absolutely," replied Danny putting on a smile.

After hearing that, Spectra moved fast and gave him a big hug; practically lifting him up.

"(Holy cow she's strong...!)" the white haired teen thought while almost being crushed and then released after several seconds.

"Did anyone ever tell you you're sweet Cutie Pie?" asked Penny hooking an arm around his again before changing direction and flying northward together. "I can almost eat you up."

Embarrassed and yet flattered all at once, Danny couldn't answer the red head while blushing.


	21. Chapter 21

Not much time pass as Vlad Masters had just arrived back home through his ghost portal and transformed back into his human half. Then he marched over to a metal table littered with various gadgets and devices as he removed his Plasmiwatch.

"Fudgenuggets..." he grumbled dropping it there.

No doubt after his battle with the two dragons and dragging himself out of the moat surrounding the kingdom, the billionaire quickly realized his device was in a state that lacked any usefulness whatsoever. Simply put, it did not work. Whether that was due to the dragon fire blast or ghost water or a combination of the two was up for debate. However, what was clear as day was he needed to get a replacement. Though it would take a business day or two. After all custom pieces of equipment weren't made in abundance nor sold in any store. He'd have to make a call and put in a very special order. But this time, he'll make sure to acquire more than one; to be on the safe side.

With clenched fists, he marched over to the bin located right next to the entrance to the decontamination shower area, which was located at backside of the lab. Quickly, he ripped off his suit in a monsterous(or ghosterous...?) show of strength before tossing it in the disposal bin in front of him. Then he stripped off his socks, tanktop, and boxers before tossing those in the bin as well.

After that was accomplished, it was now time for the billionaire to head inside the decontamination shower area and wash off whatever filth he managed to accumulate while in the Ghost Zone.

As soon as the water was at a comfortable temperature for him, Vlad stepped in and sighed once the droplets eased the tension in his muscles.

"There we are," he let out before contemplating aloud, "Now to plan my next move. Of course I can't go back to that kingdom just yet. For starters, I'm not at full strength so going up against a dragon, or in this case two, would be suicide. Secondly, they more than likely are in possession of the key. It wasn't in the same spot where I last saw it when I snuck back in. Its logical to assume they have it. Unfortunately, I will have to wait until I get another Plasmiwatch before making a move again. In the meantime, I'll just dispatch a few Plasmibugs to that location. Its best to get the layout of a realm and know its day to day activities."

With his mind made up, Vlad concentrated on finish showering.

Around the same time inside the Ghost Zone...

"Over here Em!" called Kitty waving an arm from nearby the entrance to the mall.

The flame haired musician noticed her friend right away.

After making her way over to Kitty, Ember said, "My bad for taking long. Had to find a way to get away from Danny without raising a red flag. So where is everyone?"

"Youngblood and Johnny went to the arcade," answered the girl with fishnet stockings. "Spectra on the otherhand sent me a text saying she couldn't make it and we should go gift-shopping without her."

Ember rolled her eyes.

"Figures. The one person who came up with this idea bailing on us."

"Look on the bright side. You have one less person to interrogate you about Danny."

The rocker considered Kitty's reasoning.

"Hm... Make it two and then I'll be happy."

The biker babe smiled mischieviously as she laid a hand on the musician's shoulder.

"Oh Em. If only it were that easy."

Ember let her disappointment show with narrowed eyes and a frown.

"Why did I agree to this again?"

"Because you want to score points with Danny."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because you like him."

"Of course I like him; we're friends. And he helped me get out of my funk."

"Not like Em. I'm saying you 'like-like' him."

The rocker folded her arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Kitty raised a knowing brow.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. And even if I was trying to score points, which I'm not, wouldn't it defeat the purpose when we're all buying him something?"

"Not when the rest of us will buy him something crappy compared to your gift."

"You guys would do that for me...?!" eagerly questioned the pop princess. Once Ember realized her mistake she was quick to correct herself with, "I mean uh... if it was true that I like-liked him and wanted to score some points, not saying that I am, all of you would do that?"

"Of course we would. But only if you like-like him. Too bad you don't though."

Ember weighed her options. She could admit that she actually has feelings for Danny in the hope that it would progress their relationship further with the gift she will buy. Or she could keep quiet and risk Danny finding her gift dissatisfactory compared to the ones her friends might get him. One option left her vulnerable and had the best chance at making the ghost teen happy while the other shrouded her feelings, but had the best chance at making Danny disappointed.

"(Darn you Kitty...)" thought the musician as she sighed. Then she said, "This won't get back to Danny?"

"My lips are sealed."

"And you'll make sure 13 and pipsqueak keep their traps shut too?"

"If they even think about spilling the beans they'll go missing for the next 11 hours."

"What about Spectra?"

"Since she decided to bail on us we won't clue her in."

The pop princess let out another sigh.

"Okay I... like-like Danny..."

"There. Was that so hard?"

"Kinda."

"Anyway, we'll meet up with the boys and tell them the plan."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Then the two proceeded to enter the mall together.

"So how long have you like-liked Danny?"

The pop princess groaned.

"Its part of the deal Em," explained Kitty. "Now spill."

"Fine... I guess it sorta happened after he helped screwed my head on straight."

"Makes sense. Have you told him yet?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Its... complicated."

"What do you mean by that? And don't tell me it has something to do with Skulker."

The flame haired ghost fell silent and Kitty noticed her guilty expression.

"Its Skulker isn't it?"

"Um... maybe?"

"What happened?"

"Don't judge me but we kinda kissed yesterday..."

The biker babe gasped in astonishment as they both stopped.

"You made out with Skulker?!"

Ember flinched at the outburst.

"Yeah..."

"How? I thought you were with Danny the whole day."

"Well... I went back to my pad for a little while to grab something and on my way out Skulker bumped into me. Then he started talking and he said stuff like how he wanted to see how I was doing and that he wanted for us to get back together. And when we were through he surprised me with that kiss."

"Oh... so you didn't initiate it?"

"No, but I didn't exactly try to stop it once I realized what was happening."

"And why didn't you try to stop it?"

"Because... I don't know... maybe I feel guilty about dumping him I guess? Then there's the long history between us."

"In other words, you still have feelings for Skulker."

The pop princess nodded.

"Did you tell Danny about... what am I saying? Of course you didn't. Will you tell him about the kiss?"

"Um..." Ember hesitated. "I want to but..."

"You're afraid of what he might think of you."

"Yeah..."

"Long story short, you like-like Danny enough to want to start a relationship with him, but at the same time you also haven't closed the door on your ex. Now I get why you called it complicated."

"Any advice?" Ember kinda pleaded.

"Well, since you're not together, I guess you technically didn't do anything wrong. Although, I think you should make sure you're officially done with Skulker before trying to move on with Danny. It wouldn't be fair to him if you were having second thoughts about your ex."

"And what about the kiss? Should I tell him?"

"That's up to you," Kitty pointed at her with a finger. 

Ember paused to think.

"I'll... keep a lid on it for now I guess. But if I do make up my mind about moving forward, I'll tell Danny what happened beforehand."

The girl with fishnet stockings smiled.

"Whatever you decide, I'm in your corner."

Ember smiled.

"Thanks."

"Don't take too long though because you need a man like yesterday," joked Kitty.

At the remark, Ember felt insulted and she glared at her friend.

"I don't need a guy that bad!"

"Of coooourse you don't," agreed Kitty sauntering away in the direction of the arcade with a smile.

Ember knew her friend didn't really mean what she said but chose to let it go in favor of not wanting to jeapordize the offer Kitty had all so graciously suggested. And so she followed her without a word.


	22. Chapter 22

Sometime later inside Danny's Realm, Danny and Spectra entered inside titanium doors which slid open in opposite directions with a swoosh sound automatically once they approached it.

"If what you've told me is true about having a Core Intuition, I'd say through here is the Control Deck," Danny said making his way in followed by Penelope.

"My, this area is gynormous," said Spectra observing the rather large space with its very high ceiling, multi-computer screens in addition to an almost circular high-tech control panel located in the center of the area, and a wide two-way glass window which showed a rather fetching view of the Ghost Zone. Besides these, his trademark DP symbol was etched in white on the black metal floor.

"I'm surprised it turned out how I thought it would considering I only imagined the outside," admitted the teen ghost moving to the center of the area to take a look at the control panel.

"The interior of a realm like this is decided based upon disposition of its creator and what is suitable to the realm," explained the red head following him. "And I must say, I find them both tantalizing."

Danny pretended as though he didn't hear that second part, though he couldn't help but feel cloddish.

As soon as Spectra joined him in order to get a look at the keys and buttons, she said, "Nice equipment. You know what they're for?"

The ghost boy thought about it for a second.

"Well... I'm sure I can control the temperature, gravity, lighting, and a few other things too."

The red head turned her head to look at him questioningly.

"You can change gravity?"

"Yeah. I can either make us light as a feather or heavy as an elephant. Want to see what it's like?"

She smiled.

"Absolutely. But make sure its the light as a feather option Cutie Pie."

Danny felt awkward by the name before using his Core Intuition to figure out which keys to mash and in what order. His fingers seemed to have a mind of their own during the process as they fluidy moved about. He found it strange and yet reminiscent to muscle memory in a way. Before he knew it, one final button was pressed and a humming pulse reverberated in the atmosphere for a brief moment which both he and Spectra felt.

And then the two felt their bodies float without warning into the air.

"Oh my...!" Penelope let out. "I really am light as a feather."

The white haired teen smiled floating about in the air, "Zero gravity is amazing. I never thought I'd experience this unless I became an astronaut. Being a ghost definitely has its upsides."

Spectra managed to gain some control over her person by using her power of flight.

"Tell me about it. I've learned through the years that the Ghost Zone is full of many wonders that have yet to be explored. If you stick around long enough I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will make your unliving worthwhile. Or rather _someone_."

Danny thought about what she said and familiar face definitely fit the description. He smiled at the image of the fire haired ghost girl in his head.

"Yeah. No kidding."

His guest seemed to pick up on that and decided on something.

"Can I ask you something Cutie-Pie?"

"Shoot."

"Regarding the circumstances of your demise that you told us about at the Christmas Party. How exactly did you end up in that situation?"

All of a sudden, the white haired teen tensed up. Spectra noticed this, but didn't say a word. She merely waited patiently for him to respond. Which he did after almost half a minute.

"Uh... well... someone knocked me out cold while I was distracted and they ended up taking me away to be... you know."

"Why would they do that to you?"

He paused briefly.

"Revenge."

"Revenge?" repeated the red-head confused. "You did something that made someone want to kill you? Somehow I can't picture that in my head seeing how much of a gentleghost you are."

Danny half-smiled briefy.

"Thanks, but the truth is, people I was close to did something to the person that killed me. Because of that, I was used as a way to get back at them."

"That's awful...!" Spectra gasped after hearing that. "Its one thing to go after the person you're angry with! Its another to torture an innocent cutie-pie because of affiliation! I hope whoever did this to you gets exactly what they deserve!"

The ghost boy didn't want to dwell any longer on the subject of his demise so he decided to shift the spotlight from him.

"Speaking of demises, didn't you say you were poisoned?"

Not expecting the question, Spectra blinked.

"That? Oh it's embarrassing really. A couple came to me for counselling regarding their marriage. I was completely professional about it and gave them by the book advice. Almost a month later, I find out from them over the phone that they were in the process of divorcing and would no longer be in need of my services. Not a full week later, the wife stops by my office with a bottle of champegne. Apparently, she wanted to thank me for helping her see the truth about her husband. I didn't want to accept the gift at first but the woman insisted so much I couldn't refuse. When I had, she practically begged me to try it right away. Seeing that my schedule was clear, I saw no reason why I couldn't have a cup or two. After downing close to a small portion of the bottle I knew something was wrong when I felt weak in the head and knees. As soon as my vision fazed in and out, I collapsed to the floor barely conscious. I asked the woman for help but she spat in my face and said it was what I deserved for having an affair with her husband and breaking up their marriage. After that, I ended up as the ghost you see before you today."

"What?" uttered Danny in disbelief. "She killed you because she thought her husband was cheating on her with you?"

"Yes."

"Why would she think that?"

The red head fixed her gaze on her nails.

"I don't know. Maybe she saw a gorgeous independent woman and became jealous of her good looks and charming success?"

Studying her odd behavior, a suspicion soon crossed Danny's mind.

"She was telling the truth... wasn't she?"

"Oh darn, I almost forgot I had a few errands to run," muttered Spectra turning about to fly towards the exit.

"Spectra."

The red head halted her movement as she let out a sigh before turning to face the teen.

"Fine... I may have... involved myself with her husband behind her back..." admitted Spectra before defending herself with, "But I only did it after he said he was completely through trying to fix his marriage!"

"You sure?" Danny raised a brow.

"Cross my heart and hope to... well you get the picture."

The ghost boy displayed somewhat of a stern expression.

"I believe you. But I am disappointed. You could have at least waited until after they were divorced to date the man."

At that, Spectra frowned as her head went down in shame.

"You're right. If I had, I probably wouldn't have ended up here in the Ghost Zone. Maybe I got what I deserved."

Upon hearing that, Danny immediately responded, "You're wrong."

Surprised, the red head picked her head up again.

"I am?"

"Nobody has the right to kill another person," reinforced the ghost teen with firm conviction. "Even if someone made a mistake or did something to make them angry, its wrong."

"But... I knew what I was doing and did it anyway."

"It doesn't matter. Killing is wrong period."

"You're... serious aren't you?"

"Dead serious. No pun intended."

After saying that, Danny floated down to the control panel and undid the adjusted gravity.

Spectra landed with a puzzled expression while staring at him. When she had made up her mind, she said, "I was going to wait until you were done showing me around but I think now is a good time."

The ghost teen turned.

"A good time for what?"

The read head approached him and pulled out a what appeared to be cell phone before holding it out to him with a smile.

"This is my realm-warming gift to you."

"Oh," blinked Danny taking the present. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. I already saved all of our phone numbers in it. Also, feel free to contact me anytime you feel like chatting. No matter what it is, you can talk to me about anything."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"I wish I could stay for the complete tour but I have things to take care of. I hope you understand."

"I do," replied Danny. "And thanks again for the gift."

With a goodbye wave exchange, the red head made her way towards the exit and out of the area.

Danny stared at the phone in his hand for a few seconds before putting it away and checking out what other idiosyncrasies the area had.

On her flight away from the Space Station of a home, Spectra thought, "(He's definitely not like other ghosts I've come across. Its like there's not an ounce of malevolence in him. Which is odd considering how he ended up here. If I didn't know any better I'd say he wasn't a ghost at all. Its like he's human.)"

Then she smirked.

"(Regardless, its only a matter of time before Cutie Pie's all mine.)"


	23. Chapter 23

The Fentons, or should I say Maddie Fenton was in the process of backchecking every single part of the Ecto-Detecto system. Though the task was quite arduous(even moreso on a woman with child), the matriarch of the household would not slack in her efforts.

"Firewall active," listed Maddie now observing a monitor. "Battery power 100%. The system diagnostics check reports no errors whatsoever. Everything checks out on all fronts."

She smiled.

"I better tell Jack the good news."

The woman stood up from her seat and made her way towards the stairs. Halfway there, she felt a bump coming from her tummy.

"Oh," blinked the mother placing her hand on her stomach and caressing it ever so lovingly. "Looks like you're eager too."

After saying that, she continued about her way.

Meanwhile at the mall, Bertrand was spying on Ember, Johnny, Youngblood and Kitty from a great distance. He was currently sitting at a table at a nearby food court with a newspaper in hand which shrouded his face. Every so often he would peak out from the bottom side of the paper to note everything they did. He found the task much more dull than his previous duty of finding out the latest digest of random places about the Ghost Zone. He sighed to himself for the 100th time that day.

"Geez Luiz, its been hours and they're still not finished," muttered the small man.

Of course he could tell that it wasn't the entire group's fault they weren't done. In fact, he postulated because everyone minus Ember was each holding a gift box, that the rocker was the source of his ennui.

"What's the holdup Ember?" questioned Johnny. "Just pick something so we can hit the skies."

The flame haired girl responded as she looked all around the various stores and outlets, "Cannit 13. I have one chance to get this right and I'm not gonna blow it."

"Why don't you get him some sneakers?" suggested Youngblood while pointing at a shoe outlet on the other side of the floor they were on.

"There's no point when he can change his outfit whenever he wants," groaned the pop princess. "Ugh, why is this so hard?"

Kitty proceeded to explain, "Because finding the perfect gift for the guy you like never is."

It was in that moment that Johnny asked, "The kid likes video games right? You could buy him a console and a few games to go with it."

"I think his pad would come with that," shot down Ember. "Just like yours came with a garage and all the tools."

The greasy haired ghost scratched the top of his head, "Good point."

"I have an idea," said Kitty. "You could get him a necklace."

Hearing the suggestion caused Ember to think.

"That... actually sounds like a good idea," admitted the flame haired girl. "Let's check out the Ghoulsmith's bling."

With that, the group headed for the place Ember had mentioned.

Bertrand noticed that they were on the move so he hopped to his feet and motioned to follow them.

"Hopefully, they'll wrap this up soon," the short man muttered.

Not too long later, the billionair halfa known as Vlad Plasmius floated outside of Prince Aragon's Kingdom while in ghost form.

"Go," he commanded before almost a dozen small high-tech flying bugs that were strangely reminiscent to him in appearance descended upon the realm before them.

"Now all I have to do is be patient at home as my bugs scout out this kingdom."

With his objective completed, Vlad turned and flew away from the site.

Sometime later in the throne room, Aragon stared ahead with hands resting on the arms of his seat as one of his subjects read from a parchment.

"Tax collection from the previous year has sum totalled the following. 202 pieces of gold, 398 pieces of silver, and 601 bronze pieces," announced the servant.

"And this was from a 10% levy?" questioned the king.

"Yes sire."

He turned his attention to another subject.

"Make known throughout the kingdom that from henceforth the impost is doubled."

"As you command sire," bowed the servant before stepping out of the presence of the king.

When all trace of him had disappeared, Aragon asked the subject from before, "What other matters must be brought to my attention?"

"As custom would dictate sire, a ceremonial royal ball must be carried forth immediately following a change in leadership."

The king with the pointed chin groaned to himself.

"I suppose not even I can overturn this edict."

"It is a custom from the first ruler sire and you therefore cannot."

Aragon then narrowed his eyes in the direction of his subject.

"Do you mistake me, your king, for a brain-lacking urchin of the seas who would not know better than to uphold a sacred custom from MY kingdom?"

The servant sweatdropped at the intimidating countenance of Aragon.

"N-no sire...! A-a thousand pardons!"

The king blew out his nose before staring ahead again.

"Fetch my sister from her menial tasks and bring her to me."

"Yes sire," bowed the servant before turning and walking away quickly.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a Plasmibug made itself at home in one of the upper corners of the throne room.

Minutes later in what appears to be the stables filled with ghostly horses and hay, Dorathea worked tirelessly to clean out the many stalls she found unclean(which turned out to be all of them). It was a task she found unpleasant and an assault on the sense of smell. Droppings of ecto-gunk was here and there. Each shaped in similitude of a deformed volcano.

"I'd rather you not describe these atrocities lest I vomit..." said Dorathea turning her nose away while scooping olid hay.

"Sorry," apologized the author. "Also, you do know you're standing in..."

"Please don't remind me."

"So... why are you out here as opposed to waiting on your brother hand and foot?"

The princess scooped up a pile of you-know-what before dropping it into a cart.

"I accidentally spilled a drink on his lap during breakfast and he made me take on menial tasks as punishment. I tried to apologize but his anger could not be quelled."

"What else is new?"

After scooping and loading what-must-not-be-named into the cart, the princess proceeded to usher out said transport device and its load to the proper filth heap.

On the way to the destination, Aragon's servant approached her.

"Excuse me Princess."

The blonde came to a stop as she looked his way.

"Yes?"

"The king sent me to come fetch you."

"For what purpose?"

"It would be better for his majesty to fill you in than I. For I'd rather keep my head intact and my body unscorched than to go beyond what was commanded me."

Dorathea nodded in understanding.

"Very well. Allow me to take care of 'this' first and I shall see him."


	24. Chapter 24

Sometime later, Kitty, Johnny, and Youngblood followed behind Ember as she showed them the way to Danny's place. Each had realm-warming gifts of different sizes covered in wrapping paper.

"Why did he have to move way out here?" complained Youngblood.

"He likes cool climates," Ember answered wearing the same outfit Danny had provided her the last time she was in that region of the Ghost Zone. Instead of him turning the items back to what they were before, the ghost girl voiced to the white haired teen that it would be best to leave them as is. Mainly because Ember didn't have any winter apparel in her closet.

"You think he might have an ice core or something?" asked Johnny.

"Maybe but I can't say for sure. He hasn't been around the GZ long enough to find out."

"Em?" called Kitty looking ahead. "What is that thing?"

"If you're talking about the big hunk of metal that's where we're headed."

"That's Danny's place...?!"

"Yeah."

"Its huge like Clockdude's tower," said the greasy haired ghost.

The group continued their approach towards the massive lair which would have been all grey on the outside if it weren't for Danny's trademark symbol stamped in white across the center.

Once they came close to the massive structure, Danny heard a beeping sound from the hallway he was traveling down.

"Huh?" the ghost boy blinked. "Could that mean...?"

Then he turned and walked towards the elevator.

Almost a minute later, Ember and the others hovered outside looking around the realm.

"Where's the front door?" Youngblood scratched the top of his head.

"I don't know," answered Ember truthfully.

"Maybe we ought to fly up to one of the windows and knock?" suggested Kitty.

"Sounds good to me."

The four flew up to the wide two-way glass window that was closest to them and Johnny knocked several times with the side of his hand.

"Hey kid, its us! You in there?"

He waited for a few seconds but no response came.

"He might be on the other side or on another level," Kitty assumed. "Probably why he can't hear us."

"I have an idea," the smallest member of the group transformed his left foot into a cannon of sorts. "Let's break one of the windows and go inside."

"Do that and I'll roast you like a marshmallow pipsqueak," the flame haired ghost girl threatened.

Not wanting to be burnt to a crisp, Youngblood's extension returned to a normal foot.

And then without warning, the group phased out of existence. A few seconds later, they all phased into existence on the Control Deck.

Astonished by what just happened, the quartet blinked.

"What in the Ghost Zone...?" uttered Kitty now standing on her two feet as opposed to floating.

"Hey guys," greeted Danny after turning around from the control panel to approach them.

Ember was the first to ask, "How did we get in here?"

"Oh that? That was because of me."

The group gaped at his explanation and he noticed their expressions.

"What?"

"Unless I missed something, how did you learn how to teleport a group of people in the last few hours?"

He chuckled a bit after figuring out why they were confused. Then the ghost teen pointed behind him with a thumb.

"It wasn't me specifically. I used the computer to bring all of you inside. But it only works if you're within 20 yards of the place."

"No way!" smiled Youngblood as he zoomed over to check out the control panel but as he went past Danny he shoved the gift he was carrying into the teen's chest causing him to flinch.

Once there, Youngblood scanned each key with his eyes as curiosity and wonder set into his being.

"How did you do it? Is it this button? Or this one? Maybe that one?" He mashed key after key but nothing happened to his disappointment. "Huh?" he blinked before turning around to face Danny. "Why doesn't it work?"

Ember mild glared in annoyance as Kitty shook her head.

Although, it was the greasy haired ghost who would answer the small ghost with, "You remember our little chat about ghost abodes? How stuff that comes with a realm won't work for you unless the owner is ok with you using their things?"

"Oh... right..." sheepishly replied the small ghost. Then he recovered by asking the owner of the place, "Can I try out your computer Dan my man?"

"Uh..." started the white haired teen a little unsure. After mulling it over inside his head, he figured there wasn't any harm in doing so. That and he didn't want to disappoint one of the few unliving friends he had. "Ok. But be..."

The small ghost boy ignored him from that point on and went to work mashing every button he could find.

"...careful..."

"Don't worry about him kid," Johnny assured. "He won't do anything crazy. Just wants to get the lay of the land is all."

The white haired teen reluctantly went along with the advice before deciding to focus on what he was now holding.

"I take it this and the rest of the presents you guys have are realm-warming gifts?"

Kitty responded while feeling like something was amiss, "...You say that like you're not surprised."

Danny proceeded to pull out a phone from his pocket before explaining, "I ran into Spectra earlier and she gave me this. As soon as I saw you guys on the monitor, I put two and two together."

"(First, she bails on us and now she ruins the surprise.)" thought Ember blowing air out of her nose. "(If I didn't know any better I'd say she did it on purpose.)"

The musician's thoughts were interrupted when Danny called her name.

"Hey Ember."

Ember blinked.

"Yeah?"

Danny held up the wrapped gift he was holding.

"Is this why you told me to go ahead without you?"

"Its part of the reason. The other is what I said earlier."

The ghost teen smiled and Ember smiled in return.

Then without warning the group floated into the air.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Youngblood. "Check it out guys! No gravity! Isn't this cool or what?"

While floating about without a purpose, the group shook their heads in response to the small ghost's excitement.

Kitty decided to steer back to the original conversation.

"Anyway Danny, open the gifts we brought."

"Sure," responded the ghost teen before he opened the gift Youngblood not so graciously shoved into his arms. Once the wrappings came off, Danny's brows rose. "A space suit?"

"Yup!" beamed the small boy.

"This is awesome," said Danny smiling. "I always wanted one of these."

At Danny's reaction to the gift Ember started to feel uneasy and frowned.

Kitty noticed the look on her friend's face and couldn't help but feel the same for her.

"(Hopefully he won't be that excited about me and Johnny's gifts.)"

"Oh and could you turn the gravity back on; at least until I'm done opening the gifts?"

"I gotcha," responded Youngblood before scrutinizing the controls. "Uh... how do I do that?"

"The one on the bottom left corner followed by the sixth from the left on the third row from the bottom."

Once the small ghost heard the directions he followed them exactly and the gravity went back to normal with everyone landing on their feet.

"That's better," said Danny before setting the space suit down on the flat surface next to the control panel.

Then Johnny said as he held out his gift, "Here you go kid."

Danny went over and received the present. Once the wrappings came off, Danny recognized what it was while holding it up.

"A biker jacket?" the teen stared at the gift in confusion.

"Yeah kid," Johnny nodded. "And its all yours."

Danny scratched the side of his head. Upon seeing his reaction, Ember's mood had brightened somewhat.

"(Good work Johnny!)" praised Kitty internally.

"Huh," mused Danny looking at the gift. Then he smiled as he put it down next to the space suit. "I never told anybody this but I always thought these were kinda cool."

Ember's timorous mood had resurfaced.

Hoping beyond hope that her gift wouldn't be laudable like the others, Kitty crossed her fingers after she handed Danny her gift. The white haired teen tore off the wrappings not long after and smiled once he saw the white scarf.

"Since I moved out here I was thinking about getting one of these," he wrapped it about his neck in a way that made sure it wouldn't fall off too easily. "Thanks Kitty."

The green haired girl responded with a half-hearted smile, "You're welcome Danny..."

And now for the moment of truth. Ember felt a lump in her throat that she couldn't swallow. On the inside, she felt like she couldn't top her friends' gifts. Especially the space suit. The reaction it elicited out of Danny could not be matched. On a scale of one to 10 that was definitely a 13. Speaking of 13 his gift was the runner up. Then Kitty's was last place. It was like the order in which they presented them to Danny was an indication in which he would like them the most; from greatest to least. If that were true she may as well go home and accept that hers will pale in comparison. Only she couldn't. Ember was at the point of no return and had no other choice but to face the music head on.

"I um... brought you this," the rocker slowly floated over to Danny and handed him her long rectangular shaped gift.

Danny stared at it curiously as he graciously accepted the offering.

Ember bit her lower lip in anticipation as Danny peeled off the wrappings. Time seemed to slow in the former's eyes. Her undead heart would be thumping uncontrollably if it could.

And then the mystery gift came out in full view of the white haired teen.

"A painting?" Danny questioned as he looked to the one who gave it to him.

"Its actually a pocket dimension of outer space," the flame haired girl answered before explaining, "You can go into it and it'll be like you're actually in space with all the planets, stars, and other stuff."

"So like a pseudo-space pocket dimension?"

Ember nodded.

"That's pretty cool I guess," half shrugged Danny before turning and leaning her realmwarming gift next the control panel.

Ember felt cold in her core at that moment.

"Hey guys. How about I give you a tour of the place?"

Youngblood said, "Heck yeah! I wanna see what other cool things you got."

Then Johnny replied, "Sure kid."

Kitty answered while forcing a smile, "Sounds like fun Danny."

Ember said nothing but nodded.

Danny, Johnny, and Youngblood were the first to make their way towards the exit. As they did, the trio made conversation.

While that was going on, Kitty quickly went to Ember and said out of pity, "Its ok Em. There'll be other chances like this one. You just have to stay positive and keep trying."

The rocker sighed before the two of them followed the boys towards the exit.


	25. Chapter 25

I'm Ember Mclain. The Ghost Zone's rock icon extraordinaire.

Right now I feel like crap. I'm such an idiot. All I do is screw things up. First, with my human life and then with my afterlife.

Just when I'm starting to think I could score some major points with Danny by getting him a pad-warming gift, he shrugs it off like it wasn't/isn't a big deal.

Punch a girl in the gut why don't you babypop.

Kitty tried to cheer me up by pointing out there'll be other opportunities. I just want to go upside her head and tell her that me and "other opportunities" _**Don't Mix** _ _**At All!** _ But I appreciate her encouragement.

I try to put the incident behind me as Danny gives us a tour of his pad. What can I say about it? Its big, its made of metal, and it gives off this Star Trek(saw it a few times thanks to pipsqueak's annoying persistence) kinda vibe with its carpeted hallway and _swishing_ doors that remind of a set of sideways choppers. FYI the carpet is teal colored. Don't know why it is though. Not that I'm complaining. It just seems like its random if you ask me.

His place also has an elevator that takes us from one floor to another. A jam of some rock group I never heard of plays over the speaker as we go down to a lower level. He said their name was Humpty Dumpty or something like that. They sound ok, but nothing to get hyped about. Danny, 13, and Kitty hummed to the lyrics of the song. Ok, I admit I did too. Even if they're not as rockin as me, I gotta give'em props.

_Crack me o-PEN!_

_Scramble my in-SIDES!_

_Chip my sur-FACE!_

_Set the temp just right!_

_Flip my ome-LET!_

_Brown it how you like!_

_Cut the pie-CES!_

_Anyway you like!_

_Over ea-SEH!_

_Take and eat-ET!_

_So soft and pleas-En!_

_Light and gold-EN...!_

_Beyond appease-EN!_

_Any seas-EN!_

_Warm and cold AND...!_

_Spring and aut-EM!_

_Don't need a rea-SEN!_

_Just to try-EM!_

_Crack me o-PEN!_

_Why you wait-EN?_

_Are you chick-EN?!_

_I'm so deli-CIOUS!_

_In fact nutri-CIOUS!_

_Don't be suspi-CIOUS!_

_Accept this mis-SION!_

_The new commis-SION!_

_I know you're itch-EN!_

That song is gonna be stuck in my head all day...

I learned that in total Danny's place has a total of five floors. The top, he tells us, is his bedroom. The floor directly below that is the control deck(which we just left). In other words, our first stop is to the third floor.

On that floor was nothing in particular aside from a locker room area you can go into and a wide window with a decent view of the G.Z.

I asked Danny what was it for and he said he planned on using it as a training area. Not that I bothered to put into any extra effort with my powers, but I can respect his line of thinking.

There wasn't much for us to do in there besides take in the view. From there we moved onto the 2nd floor.

On that floor was something I did not expect. It was a bowling alley. Didn't know Danny liked to bowl. I wish I knew that earlier when I was pad-warming gift shopping.

This space has 10 different lanes; each with its own sitting table, automatic scorer, bowling ball racks, and shoe cubbies(which were filled with bowling shoes of different sizes, but with the same black and white color scheme). The pins at the very back were teal colored with purple stripes; which is odd. I thought they were usually supposed to be all white with red stripes... Ignoring that, there was also an adjoining arcade with a bunch of gaming machines, an air hockey table, and a foosball table.

Youngblood drooled on himself at the display and wanted to try all of them out. Knowing pipsqueak, we reined him in before he could get the chance. He used his secret weapon on us, which was his puppy-dog eyes with a jiggling lower lip.

Let the record show I wasn't the first to cave. It was 13, Kitty, and then me. Though, we all agreed to let him have 15 minutes of playtime(with Danny's approval of course). When that was over, we dragged him away pouting and whining.

In order to calm him down, Danny said he was welcome to stop by anytime down the road; even if he wasn't at home. Pipsqueak's face lit up like a Christmas Tree.

That was nice of Danny. I know a **ton** of ghosts that aren't hospitable. That includes me, myself and, I; the rocking trinity. Even if he did punch me in the gut figuratively earlier, I can't help but to ~~love~~ like him more than I already do.

Moving down from there, we came to the 1st floor which was a lounge area. In it was close to two dozen tables with sleek black round tops positioned on a single white leg; each with either two, three, or four black arm chairs that had fluffy white cushions in the seats and built into the armrests. There was a couple of booths of similar design by the window with white cushioned benches and of course a sleek rectangular table inbetween. A stage was off to the far side with a hanging teal colored curtain hiding whatever was behind it(again with teal...). Off to the direct opposite side of room was the kitchen door and a long serving counter.

This totally blew my mind. I knew Danny was good at cooking, but from what I can see, it looks like he plans on opening up some kind of high-end restaurant.

Kitty beat me to the question that rattled around inside both of our heads.

Danny laughed and said he had no interest in being a chef. He just wanted an area where he could throw parties and celebrate with a lot of people if given the chance.

Not surprising. Leave it to my Danny to think ahead.

I should be more like that; nice, caring, forgiving, and thoughtful ~~instead of prone to revenge, a sack of crap, doesn't deserve happiness, should fade away, a cheater, a backstabber, a murderer~~.

Even though he laughed about it, I seriously think Babypop could pull off being a chef. And I'm not just saying that because I ~~love~~ like him. His cooking is so good that I think most people on death row would choose it as their last meal.

Speaking of which...

Note to self: **Ask Danny to cook later.**

Getting my attention, I was surprised to find out what was on the floor below this one. The entire space was what Danny called the landing bay. He said it is where the entrance was located and showed us the huge metal door which opened outward in two different directions like a cuckoo clock once he touched it. No wonder we couldn't see it from the outside. You couldn't tell it could open to begin with. Not only that, if I had to guess I'd say there was room to put at least 20 SUV's in there.

Johnny said it was a good idea because he could hardly take his bike anywhere because either there was no place to park it or no ghost would allow it onto their property. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm one of those ghosts. That thing leaves tracks and there's no way I'm gonna clean the floor every time he comes by. Unlike me and most other ghosts, Danny says he doesn't mind and that 13 could park his bike if he wanted.

I just want to kiss him for how considerate he is. Maybe I ought to do it when no one's around...

Unfortunately, I won't get the chance anytime soon because unexpected company arrived.

_~Ember POV End~_


	26. Chapter 26

The last thing Danny, Ember, Johnny, Kitty, and Youngblood expected was a ghostly man on top of a pale brown horse to show up outside of the doorway of the landing bay.

"Salutations," greeted the fellow in the brown tunic with a beige sash wrapping around his middle part and long dark grey garments underneath. "Might I enquire the owner of this grand property?"

"Uh... that would be me," answered Danny coming outside to meet him. "Who are you?"

"I am but a messanger sent by his royal highness, and I've come to deliver this."

Danny observed in puzzlement as the ghost pulled something out of the sack strapped to the side of the horse and held out a nicely adorned rectangular shaped paper.

After the white haired teen received it, the man nodded slightly in a show of respect before the horse carried him forth away from the Space Station of a home.

Danny glanced down at the item as he made his way back to the landing bay.

"What was that all about?" asked Johnny.

"Apparently, I've been invited to a ball or something." responded Danny.

"Really?" uttered Kitty in disbelief. "Let me see that."

Danny handed it over to the green haired girl and she scanned the lines from left to right as she read aloud...

 _"You have been invited to his Majesty Aragon's Royal Ball. Five moons from the current day with the hour a quarter prior to the stroke of twelve is the time of the event. Dress appropriately as the custom would require according to the proper etiquette. You may bring one guest should you be willing to attend. However, have this invitation on hand otherwise entry into the castle will be prohibited._ Looks like it is an invite."

"Time out," Youngblood did the timeout gesture with both hands followed by looking to Danny. "How do you know this Aragore guy?"

"I don't," Danny claimed. "Besides you guys Clockwork, Pandora, and the Box Ghost are the only ghosts that know me personally."

"Well maybe he's giving out invites to everyone," assumed Ember.

"If he was wouldn't that maildude give us one too?" countered the greasy haired ghost.

"It could be a home by home deal. He did ask who owned the pad."

"True."

Kitty turned hey attention to Johnny.

"Hey, maybe we ought to amscray back to our place and see if that guy hands us an invite."

"What about finishing the tour?" Johnny replied.

"Its ok," cut in Danny. "All that was left was my room and I doubt you'll be interested in that."

The couple exchanged quick glances before smiling and taking advantage of the open window.

"See ya kid."

"Bye Danny."

The white haired teen waved them off as they flew away.

"Guess I'll leave too." announced Youngblood. "There's this thing I've been working on and it needs a vacuum so to speak."

"The secret project again huh" remarked Ember.

"Yep."

"Secret project?" repeated Danny confused.

"Oh right," the flame haired girl realized. "The kid's been working on something since before you came along and has been keeping a tight lip about what it is."

"That's right," confirmed the small boy. "And when its done, its going to knock your socks off."

Then he motioned to leave only to stop partway out the opening of the landing bay.

"Uh..."

"What is it Youngblood?" asked Danny.

The small boy turned back with twiddling fingers.

"... I'm still welcome to come back and play games anytime I want right?"

Danny smiled.

"Yep."

The bucktoothed ghost smiled and finally zoomed away from the Space Station.

With only two of them left, Danny turned to Ember.

"So... you want to look at my room or do you wanna take off too?"

Ember shrugged.

"I've got nothing better to do. Might as well finish the tour."

As indifferent as Ember tried to appear on the outside, on the inside her curiousity burned wanting to see what Danny's bedroom looked like. His whole place seemed to catch her interest and every floor so far had revealed so much about the ghost boy.

After they boarded the elevator and Danny commanded the lift to take them to the top floor.

On their way upwards, Danny turned his head said "Hey Ember."

"Yeah?" the ghost girl answered looking his way.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Depends on what the secret is."

"I uh... don't like the gifts Kitty, Johnny, and Youngblood got me."

Ember's brow rose.

"But I thought you said you liked them?"

The white haired teen scratched the side of his head.

"I lied to spare their feelings. All the things they brought was stuff I could tranform my outfit into. Please don't tell them the truth."

"My lips are sealed," said Ember as an idea formed in her mind. "...If you tell me how you really feel about my gift."

"About that..." started Danny as the elevator came to a stop.

When the door opened, Ember noticed the spectacle before her eyes and raised both brows with a gaping mouth.

"Sell my guitar..." the ghost girl let out.

"Had I known you were going to get me that pocket dimension, my room probably wouldn't have looked like this," finished explaining the ghost boy.

In front of the two was literal outer space. The moon, the sun, the stars, the planets, and practically everything else was in visible sight.

Danny stepped into the space first and his foot touched down on nothing... Or at least what appeared to be nothing. Several steps later he turned to look at his astonished guest.

"Ember."

She blinked several times before coming to her senses.

"Huh?"

"Now you see why I wasn't too excited about the gift you got me."

"I'd have to be blind not to."

Danny scratched the side of his head as the flame-haired girl placed both hands on her hips before floating out to gaze at view in all directions.

"Its because you beat me to the punch before I even thought about getting you a gift."

"Sorry, but yeah. Also, you don't have to fly. This place will create footing whenever you decide to walk."

Skeptical at first, Ember decided to tentatively place a foot down. To her surprise, she stepped on something solid, but unseen all the same. The flame haired ghost's other foot came down next once her doubt disappeared.

"Not even the pocket dimension I got you could do this."

"To be fair, this is a bedroom so its supposed to have something like a floor to stand on."

"By that logic you should also have a bed," pointed out the musician gazing around once more to double-check. "Which by the way is nowhere in sight."

"Hold that thought."

Danny rubbed his hands together before extending them with a flick of his fingers downward.

Ember cast her eyes below their feet as a king sized rectangular shaped bed manifested into existence with them standing on top of it. She stood there flabbergasted.

That was when the white haired teen asked, "You were saying?"

Trying to regain a semblance of dignity, the ghost girl folded her arms before saying, "Fine, you have a bed."

And that's when she frowned, which Danny noticed right away.

"What's wrong?"

"I feel like I wasted time getting you a gift when you have _this_..."

Ember demonstated by spreading out her arms wide.

"...as your room."

Danny scratched the side of his head.

"Again, sorry about that."

"Don't be. Its not like you knew what I was gonna get you."

She sighed and looked down out the corner of her eyes. It might not been his fault but all the same she came up short and the disappointment of failing to score points lingered.

In the middle of her melancholy, Danny had closed the distance between them and took her hands in his.

"Hey."

Suprised by the action, her gaze shifted to look into his somehow comforting glowing green eyes.

"It might not have worked out the way we wanted it to, but I still appreciate the fact that you knew me well enough to get me something like this room."

And that's when he leaned in and pecked her on the cheek, which in turn made the ghost girl blush.

In the middle of her rubescent, Danny said, "That's two. One more and my packback is complete."

Somehow that managed to brighten Ember's spirit and she smiled in addition to a slight giggle. Once they realized they were still holding hands they let go.

And then there was a brief period of silence between them before Ember decided to change the subject.

"So... what are you gonna do about that invitation you got earlier?"

"Dunno. Never been invited to something like that before. What do you think I should do?"

"No idea. But if it were me I'd prefer to go to something like a rock concert. Or even better, doing my own performance."

Danny smiled at that.

"Now that's something I'd pay to see."

Ember felt her core warm in response to that remark.

"But in the meantime, I want to try out the bowling alley. You interested in a game or two?"

"As long as you don't mind getting your butt handed to you like in Guitar Superstar."

"Dem fighting words right there missy," Danny said with a country accent, which elicited a bigger smile from Ember.

With that, the two walked off the bed towards the elevator.


End file.
